(Business in Cameroon) - The palm oil sector will be less dynamic in Cameroon between January and March 2022, the BEAC – Central Bank of Cemac countries– reveals in its recent quarterly business survey. 

"Due to the maturity of plantations and high unit costs of production in areas affected by the security crisis, the palm oil production outlook is negative for the first quarter of 2022,” the central bank wrote in the survey. 

In short, the aging oil palm plantations whose yields are now below average and the sociopolitical crisis raging in the Anglophone regions since late 2016 have contributed to the increase of production costs in the Southwest.  

CDC and Pamol Plantations, the two state firms, have their facilities and plantations in this region. These two firms presented as the main victims of the anglophone crisis were obliged to abandon their plantations due to the insecurity. Despite the recent rehabilitation of oil palm plantations they initiated, their palm oil production activities are still not at the pre-crisis level because notably of the financial challenges they are facing.  

Let’s note nevertheless that during the said quarter, the drop in palm oil production will be mitigated thanks to the exploitation of new oil palm plantations, the quarterly survey estimates.

BRM