(Business in Cameroon) - BVMAC-listed Société camerounaise de palmeraies (SOCAPALM) ended the 2020 financial year with an XAF11.5 billion net profit. This profit is down by over XAF700 million compared with the XAF12.2 billion recorded in 2019, the company’s financial statement reveals.

This performance was recorded amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, the pandemic had no impact on palm oil demand in Cameroon, we learn from operators in the sector.
 
Officially, Cameroon has a yearly structural deficit of 130,000 tons of palm oil. According to Emmanuel Koulou Ada, president of the committee that regulates the oil sector, the structural deficit is calculated by taking just 50% of companies’ processing capacities. So, the effective deficit is higher.
 
 Because of that deficit, all of SOCAPALM’s production is usually absorbed by households and local refineries. In 2020, although those refineries exploited just 50% of their capacities (because of the coronavirus crisis). they were obliged to resort to importations to fill their crude palm oil needs. For the 2020 financial year, the committee that regulates the oil sector authorized actors to import 90,000 tons to fill the gap.
 
 Let’s note that with such 2020 performance, SOCAPALM plans to distribute, by September 31, 2021, XAF17.5 billion dividend to shareholders. The pre-dividend tax value of every share is XAF3,825, we learn.
 
 Brice R. Mbodiam