BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 2
By Klavdiya Romakayeva - Trend:
Compared to 1H2020, Uzbekistan reduced imports of palm oil in volume by 17 percent to 10,600 tons, in value - by 2.8 percent to $9.6 million, Trend reports with reference to Nuz.uz information portal.
Malaysia, being the largest supplier of palm oil to Uzbekistan, reduced its exports to the country from January through July 2020 in volume by 18.2 percent to 10,300 tons, in value terms - by 3.8 percent to $9.3 million.
Palm oil is the leader in the structure of world production of vegetable oil with a share of 35.8 percent. It is followed by soybean oil - 26.1 percent, rapeseed oil - 15.1 percent and sunflower oil - 8.6 percent.
Palm oil is used as vegetable oil for frying, salad dressing, or used in the food industry, adding to ice cream, margarine and frozen foods. It is also used for the production of personal care products, cosmetics and household chemicals, and as a raw material for the production of biofuel.
The annual demand of Uzbekistan in fat and oil products is over 400,000 tons. However, the country produces only 200,000 tons.
Some 25 large enterprises of the fat and oil industry operate in Uzbekistan with a total design capacity of over 2.5 million tons of vegetable oil, margarine, mayonnaise and other products. However, their workload in recent years has not exceeded 50 percent.