Okomu Oil Palm PLC (OKOMUOIL), the second-largest plantation in Nigeria, the country’s biggest crude palm oil (CPO) producer and second producer on the domestic rubber market, the company manufactures palm oil, rubber cup clumps, palm kernel oil, and palm kernel cake, it recorded a 132 percent growth in bottom-line for the period from January through September, the record turnover in excess of N31 billion as sales enlarged 66.7 percent, with exports to outside its base Nigeria contributing N4.2 billion, also, the company cut the costs it incurs on servicing loans by 75.3 percent to N111.1 million and grew its finance income from N10.8 million to N54.1 million. Pre-tax profit advanced to N14.8 billion, a 117 percent increase over what it posted for the same period last year, and earnings Per Share rose to N12.16 from N5.24, reflecting a 132 percent expansion.
Nigeria consumes roughly 3 million metric tonnes (MT) of fats and oils annually with palm oil accounting for approximately 45 percent of total consumption in 2018 and it is the largest consumer of palm oil in Africa with 1.34 million MT in 2018, according to an analysis by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), an international auditing firm. The demand in the palm oil market is pushing Okomu Oil, which owns twenty thousand hectares of cultivated palm to enter a synergy with smallholder farmers, who control 80 percent of production in Nigeria, to narrow the gap as the country imports nearly half of the two million tons consumed annually, which depleting foreign exchange reserves, though the government is taking conscious strong measures to revive the industry. It has rolled up its sleeves to increase considerably the land under cultivation and also is all set to increase the per hectare production. The target is to increase production to meet the domestic demand and curtail imports, in the near to medium term.