Oil palm: acreage, producers and EUDR risk in Europe

In 2023 there were 180,614 ha of oil palm (1.66% of the national territory), 57.78% of it in the North region, 22.19% in the South and 20.03% in the North-East, with 230 producers (51% small, 35% medium, 14% large), according to GREPALMA; the figures for extraction mills ('21 mills, 1,053 t of fresh fruit bunches per hour') do not appear in the sources. The EU is the main market (US$693 million in 2023; more than 70% of output going to the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Germany). GREPALMA states that Guatemala is the Latin American country with the largest RSPO-certified volume (2023) and 115,679 ha under voluntary standards; E&N reports 60% certified under RSPO or ISCC (2022). The risk is the European deforestation regulation (EUDR), which requires geolocated traceability, on top of the documented social scrutiny (see dossier 23, the REPSA case). Entry is through an extraction mill or a stake in an integrated producer.

The research is written in English; quoted figures, source names and the titles of legal instruments stay in the language their source published them in.