Cameroon: The official palm oil deficit rises to 160 kilotons

The article highlights a concerning development in Cameroon's crude palm oil market, with the oilseeds refiner’s association ASROC recently announcing a significant increase in the country's structural deficit. The deficit, which has risen from 130,000 tons to 160,000 tons, represents the shortfall in domestic production compared to local consumption needs. This increase is primarily due to the commissioning of new refineries, including a major one by SCS, which has boosted demand for crude palm oil.

The association emphasizes the urgency for investments to expand existing production capacities to address this growing deficit and reduce reliance on imports. Despite the challenges, ASROC insists that these import measures do not undermine the country's import-substitution strategy but are necessary solutions until local production can catch up. Furthermore, the article points out that the stated deficit might underestimate the real shortfall, as the calculations used by ASROC only consider 50% of processing companies' capacities, implying that the actual deficit could be considerably larger if full capacities were considered. This situation underscores the critical need for strategic interventions to enhance Cameroon's crude palm oil production to close the growing gap between supply and demand.