Certified palm oil use in the European Union (EU) dropped by 1% in 2022 compared to the previous year, according to a survey by trade association FEDIOL announced on 13 November.
Last year, certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO) use in Europe totalled 64% with certified sustainable palm kernel oil (PKO)’s share dropping by 2% to 45%, said the association, which represents the EU vegetable oil and protein meal industry.
FEDIOL conducts an annual survey of volumes of crude palm oil (CPO) and PKO entering participating FEDIOL members’ refining plants in the EU.
Last year, association members refined a total volume of 3.03M tonnes of palm oil, a drop of 7.4% compared to 2021 volumes.
The drop in volume implied a continuation of the downward trend registered since 2017, the organisation said.
Total CSPO volumes reached 1.9M tonnes – a decrease of -0.5% compared to 2021.
Most CSPO was traded under a segregated chain of custody (physically separated), while there had been a steady decrease in mass balance (when there is no physical separation of CSPO but the proportion of certified product is accounted for in the final product).
“Concerning PKO, the monitoring figures show that total PKO refined by FEDIOL members in 2022 amounted to 343,000 tonnes, a slight – 1% – drop from 2021, while total certified sustainable PKO volumes faced a more sizable decrease of 5% over the same period,” FEDIOL said.
Traceability to the mills where palm fruits are processed, for both palm oil and PKO, remained high, reaching 98% and 100% respectively.
