The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Annual Communication of Progress (ACOP) 2024 reporting cycle has officially closed with a notable 95 percent submission rate among RSPO Members for the third consecutive year. The latest report showed encouraging trends: strong Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) production growth in Malaysia and Africa; notable CSPO uptake surpassing 90 percent in Europe and North America; and an increase in Independent Smallholder (ISH) Credit sales.
Globally, Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) now accounts for a total of 16.2 million tonnes or just over 20 percent of global palm oil production.
These positive developments prevailed despite several challenges that faced the palm oil and oil palm product market in 2024, including lower yields from ageing plantations, delayed replanting in Southeast Asia, production challenges stemming from El Niño weather conditions, and certification delays in Latin America.
At the same time, high inflation across major consumer regions added further pressure on demand. Despite global challenges, ACOP 2024 showed RSPO market trends remained resilient, with positive sentiment even amidst constrained growth.
Upstream trends
In 2024, RSPO Members accounted for 39 percent of global palm oil production, or 31.4 million tonnes, of which 20.1 percent (16.2 million tonnes) is certified as CSPO.
A further 18.9 percent is in the process of certification under RSPO rules. Global certified hectarage and CSPO production also continue to grow steadily, with increases of 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively.
For the first time, CSPO production in Malaysia exceeded 20 percent of the country’s total production. In Africa, CSPO production showed strong growth, rising from 12.6 percent to 18.4 percent, outpacing the overall growth of total Crude Palm Oil (CPO) production by RSPO Members in the region.
For ACOP 2024, Thailand was separated from the “Rest of World” category to provide deeper insights, reflecting its role as one of the major palm oil-producing regions.
CSPO production for Thailand was around 5 percent in 2024, with a further 30 percent identified as potential CSPO.
On the sales side, CSPO has shown steady growth, with sales of Independent Smallholder (ISH) Credits up by 6.9 percent, and Physical sales growing by 2.8 percent.
An overall decline in RSPO Credit sales caused by a 7.2 percent drop in Mill Credits was offset by higher Physical sales, suggesting a potential shift in selling patterns from Credits to Physical.
Certified Sustainable Palm Kernels (CSPK) sold as RSPO are also increasing from 79 percent to 83 percent, reflecting rising demand for CSPK in the market.
Stronger sales of Certified Sustainable Palm Kernel Oil (CSPKO) in both Physical and Credits led to 89 percent of available volumes being sold in 2024.
Additionally, Independent Smallholder groups reported an 18 percent increase in certified area, demonstrating that more ISH are committing to certification.
Overall CSPO consumption and uptake
Despite a challenging macroeconomic situation, the global palm oil trade and refining from RSPO Members still increased in 2024.
Physical CSPO volumes traded, refined, and processed by RSPO Members grew by 1.1 percent, with significant room to grow in this section of the supply chain as RSPO Members currently processed 76.8 percent of global palm oil consumption.
These intermediate CSPO volumes are then used to manufacture industrial and consumer goods for downstream consumption. Accounting for Physical CSPO and CSPO Credits, total downstream consumption grew by 3 percent in 2024.
RSPO Members with Consumer Goods Manufacturers (CGM) operations recorded increases of 3.7 percent and 1.4 percent in consumption of Physical CSPO and CSPO Credits, respectively, resulting in a 3 percent overall rise in CSPO consumption, which exceeded 8 million tonnes.
RSPO Members with Retailer operations reported stronger results, with CSPO consumption surpassing 1.5 million tonnes and growing by 2.8 percent. Uptake rose from 82 percent to 88 percent, indicating retailers are consuming a higher share of certified RSPO products.
Despite a reduction in global palm oil consumption, CSPO uptake remained stable across regions, bringing the global uptake to 13.1 percent with total consumption reaching 10.1 million tonnes.
Uptake surpassed 90 percent in Europe (excluding biofuels) and North America, and China reached around 550,000 tonnes of consumption at an uptake level of 11.7 percent.
