Special Feature
This is a video report about
World Business: A couple of
years ago, with surging
demand for biofuel from
Europe and riding crude oil
prices, investors rushed to
build plants to turn palm oil
into biodiesel. But with
falling oil prices and
changing opinions towards
biofuel many of those
projects were put on hold.
To adapt, biofuel producers
now have to be a little more
creative.
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The Malaysian Oil Palm History
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The oil palm, Elaeis guineensis, is not native to Malaysia. In fact, it was introduced as an ornamental plant into Malaysia in 1875 from Africa. Its use as a crop was developed in 1917, and planted commercially when the Malaysian Government embarked on a massive programme around the 1960s. |
The increase in supply of palm oil has enabled the setting-up of supporting facilities like refineries and oleo-chemical plants. Consequently, the growth downstream products that added value for the commodity being exported were also being stimulated.
Realizing the importance of R&D, the Palm Oil Research Insitute of Malaysia (PORIM) was set up in 1979. Subsequently, PORIM merged with the Palm Oil Registration and Licensing Authority (PORLA) in 2000 to form the Malaysia Palm Oil Board (MPOB).
In recent years, MPOB has been working very closely with the industry members, e.g., The Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA), to improve the yield of palm oil production. Simultaneously, the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC) has been working hand in hand with MPOB to promote palm oil in the highly competitive world oils and facts market and to develop trade specifications for palm oil products globally. With this, the palm oil industry has successfully branched our into food, non-food and oleochemical sectors.
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