Kenya’s palm oil imports are forecast to reach 1M tonnes in 2025 as domestic consumption reaches a record level amid the country’s growing population and economy, according to a report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).
In 2024, Kenya was the eighth largest global buyer of palm oil, importing 875,000 tonnes, the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) Oilseeds: World Markets and Trade report said.
Over 90% of Kenya’s palm oil imports are consumed domestically as food by households and food service establishments, according to the July report.
The last time Kenya’s imports exceeded 1M tonnes was in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when shipments totalled 1.1M tonnes due to high stocking and re-export/trans-shipment rates ahead of anticipated logistics disruptions.
Although not a significant producer of palm oil, Kenya imported crude palm oil (CPO) for its sizeable refining sector, the USDA said.
From 2019-2023, over 90% of Kenya’s palm oil imports were crude, but in 2024 Kenya’s imports of refined palm oil jumped to 24%, likely due to an increased duty on CPO leading to lower refining margins.
Kenya also serves as a regional transportation hub and re-exports refined palm oil to many neighbouring markets including Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, according to the report.
With around 10% of Kenya’s supply of palm oil re-exported each year, Kenya was forecast to export 90,000 tonnes of palm oil in 2025, rising to 100,000 tonnes in 2026.
Since 2019, there had been a sizeable shift in Kenya’s top supplier of palm oil, with Malaysia overtaking Indonesia, increasing its import share from 22% in 2019 to nearly 90% in 2024, the report said.
“This shift can be attributed to Malaysia’s steady price competitiveness against Indonesia’s increased domestic consumption, export bans and fluctuating export tax policies,” the USDA said.
