By Naveen Thukral
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A campaign by environment groups against palm oil is costing the product market share in Europe, a top Malaysian palm oil industry official said on Monday.
Palm oil, used as food and in products ranging from cosmetics to biofuel, has come under fire from environmentalists in Europe and America who say the rapid expansion in palm cultivation is responsible for vanishing tropical forests and wildlife.
"Trade will take note if negative campaigns are launched against a particular commodity, especially if it creates a lot of uncertainty," said Yusof Basiron, chief executive of industry-funded Malaysian Palm Oil Council.
"When you bash a product then some people will stay away from it and when you reduce demand, obviously the price tends to weaken."
Scientists have warned biofuels are likely to speed up global warming as they have encouraged farmers to burn tropical forests that have absorbed a large portion of greenhouse gases.
Greenpeace says Indonesia had the fastest pace of deforestation in the world between 2000-2005, with an area of forest equivalent to 300 soccer pitches destroyed every hour.
Yusof said oil palm cultivation is not responsible for the destruction of rainforests.
"We grow our oil palm on legitimate agricultural land just like soybean and rapeseed are grown on legitimate agricultural land," he told Reuters in an interview. Continued...
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