Ghana is to export 36,000 metric tonnes of palm oil to China next year following the conclusion of a $21.6 million deal between Chyuan Chya Ghana Limited and the China-Africa Economic Trade Limited. The palm oil to be exported by Chyuan Chya Foods and Beverages Ghana Limited will be purchased from small and medium-scale palm oil producers in the country. At a ceremony to formalize the trade agreement, the Chief Executive Officer of Chyuan Chya Foods and Beverages Company, Dr Lorinda L. Lan, said the contract would not only increase employment opportunities in the country, but also boost the income levels of local palm oil producers and address their marketing problems. She said the 36,000 metric tonnes would be increased if the local producers are able to produce more, and stated that small and medium-scale producers have the capacity to produce 70 per cent of the 243,000 metric tonnes of palm oil produced in the country last year. “If the local producers can produce more, we would increase the purchase order,” she said, and indicated that local producers would be assisted to produce more. She said they have met some local producers in the Central and Eastern regions to see how possible they could work with them. Dr Lan, who signed the contract on behalf of her company, said the immediate plan is to begin the shipment with 10,000 metric tonnes of palm oil by December 31, this year, and indicated that China has been looking for more palm oil elsewhere after importing the product from Malaysia for about 10 years. Storage facilities for the produce, she said, would be built at the Takoradi Port in the Western Region to make shipment more convenient, adding that with the facility, the company would save $125,000 a month. She said the two companies have already contacted the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), the Ghana Standards Board (GSB), and Presidential Special Initiative (PSI) on Palm Oil and the Ghana Export Promotions Council (GEPC) on the contract to export the palm oil. The President of China-Africa Economic Trade Limited, Mr Liu Yang, who signed on behalf of his company, said with the agreement, the local palm oil industry, would be expanded, thereby employing more people. He also reiterated that “the produce order would increase if Ghana can produce more”. The contract would also make provision for the importation of rice and sugar from China to complement what was produced locally. Source:Daily Graphic