BENIN CITY – Growth of local industries in the oil palm sector is doomed following heavy importation of foreign brands, with a clear danger that a crash is imminent.
Nigerian producers are disconcerted as profits begin to deep and with plantation owners forum of Nigeria (POFON) crying foul over the conspiracy to cripple the sector.
Speaking to Journalists during Okomu Awareness Week to mark the Health Safety, and Environment Day, Dr. Graham Hefer, Managing Director of Okomu Oil Palm Company blew hot over the foreign importation menace.
“We are very disappointed to see that in the last four months, there have been a lot of adulterated and illegal importation of crude palm oil and Olein into the market. We see that we can get olein freely available in supermarkets in Nigeria. They are from Indonesia or Malaysia. These are banned products that are not permitted into the country,” he declared.
According to him, record from the Malaysian palm oil board of statistics showed that in the first quarter of this year, about 103,000 tons of palm products were imported into the country, this is now about four times the size of the 2018 import,” he revealed.
“If you go further and look at the amount of oil that Malaysia sold to Benin Republic, to Ghana, to Ivory Coast and the like, you will find that for instance, in Benin Republic, there are more palm trees per square meter than there are people in the Benin Republic if you just do the calculation.
“It is obvious that we are under extreme stress, it is not just for our company, the whole oil pipeline stream right down to the end user, everybody is now being affected negatively and we are begging the government to once again take cognizance of this,” Dr. Hefer lamented.
World global records on production output places Nigeria fifth among countries in the sector with 1,015 Metric tones (MT), Indonesia is top on the list with 41,500 MT, followed by Malaysia with 20,500 MT, Thailand, 2,900 MT and Columbia, 1,630 MT.
However, further records of importation into the country showed that in 2018, 242,388 tons, was imported, 2017, 246,090 tons, 2016, 186,840 tons, 2015, 829,560 tons, 2014, 189,433 tons and 2013, 125, 931 tons.
POFON Chairman, Mr. Emmanuel Ibru had recently claimed that some West African Countries are transit routes for palm oil destined for Nigeria which has deprived the country of revenue in the form of duties from such imports.
He also picked holes in the ECOWAS Trade Liberalization scheme (ETLS), saying it is an indirect application for waivers by importers of crude palm oil and other prohibited items.
Worried by the flurry of imported palm products, Dr. Hefer also a member of POFON challenged NAFDAC to do comprehensive job on banned products, particularly as many of them are substandard and constitute health hazards to Nigerians.
“Customs, should please sort this out and do something for us, because we are now battling alone. It is definitely a big issue for us, especially when the government is asking us to expand, and assist in making Nigeria sufficient in palm oil production.
“We cannot do that, because we cannot compete against subsidized oil palm and olein that comes in from countries that do not work with the world price,” Dr. Hefer stated.
