New Britain Palm Oil Limited and Wilmar International Limited yesterday announced they have agreed to set up an integrated supply chain and joint marketing arrangement.

The two companies will supply Continental Europe with fully traceable and segregated sustainable palm oil from NBPOL's Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certified plantations in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands.

The palm oil will be available from Wilmar's refinery in Brake, Germany in a whole range of products in 100 per cent segregated sustainable format from mid-2012.

Until that time it will be available in mass balance form and fully segregated for some of the quantity, this is mainly due to existing customer contracts. The refinery in Brake has a full capacity of approximately 700,000 tonnes per annum of which 300,000 will be dedicated to palm oil supplied from NBPOL's estates.

NBPOL, one of the largest fully integrated industrial producers of sustainable palm oil, and Wilmar International Limited, Asia's leading agribusiness group, are working closely together to ensure that large and small food manufacturers in Continental Europe are able to source the widest range of fully segregated certified sustainable palm oil in an affordable manner.

The Continental European palm oil market is approximately 5 million tonnes per annum. Palm oil is used in 1 in 10 products in the supermarket including bread, crackers, chips, margarine and cereals, as well as personal care and beauty products such as soap and lipstick.