Industry body sees 2017 Indonesia palm oil output up 3% at 36 million tonne.

Indonesia is likely to produce 36 million tonne of palm oil this year, 3% higher than 35 million tonne last year, owing to better weather conditions. Weather is good this year as there is no El Nino, which led to dry weather conditions last year. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil. During Jan-Jun, the country produced around 18 million tonne of the commodity. For Oct-Sep, palm oil production in Indonesia is seen flat. Increasing demand from key importing countries India and China is seen pushing Indonesia’s exports to 26 million tonne this year from 25 million tonne in 2016. During Jan-Jun, the country exported around 15 million tonne palm oil. India is the world’s largest importer of palm oil. In 2016, it had bought 5.7 million tonne of the commodity from Indonesia.