American agribusiness Cargill revealed plans this week to open a new, $200 million palm refinery in Lampung, Indonesia that will help the company to make its palm supply chain more sustainable and serve increasing demand for eco-friendly, traceable edible palm oil products.  

“This project is a key step for Cargill to increase the availability of sustainably sourced and produced edible oil ingredients for our customers,” Robert Aspell, president of Cargill Asia Pacific, said in a company release. “In addition, this fully integrated supply chain offers our customers assurance that stringent production requirements and the highest product quality are achieved.”

Ingredients made at the site will be used in European and North American markets. The agribusiness will produce palm oil at the Lampung plant according to its Policy on Sustainable Palm Oil.

Construction on the facility is underway and the company expects the site to become operational toward the end of 2022.

Over half of the packaged products sold in the United States contain palm oil, according to the World Wildlife Federation (WWF), including foods and cosmetics. The organization said that increased demand for the ingredient is leading to the establishment new palm plantations in Asia, Africa and South America, potentially displacing tropical forests and threatening endangered species.