Around the world, vegetable oil
production totals approximately 150 million metric tons per year,
of which approximately one-third is palm oil (FAO, 2013). Palm oil
is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world and is found in
supermarket products ranging from margarine, cereals, sweets and
baked goods to soaps, washing powders and cosmetics. Increasingly,
palm oil is also being used as a first-generation biofuel. In 2011 oil
palm plantations produced over 53 million metric tons of palm oil
on 16 million hectares