Coconut oil

Oil pressed from dried coconut kernel: a lauric fat prized for soaps, detergents and food, grown mostly by Asian smallholders.

Oilseeds & oils · No. 96

• Not on a critical list
• HHI 2,308 · moderately concentrated

Almost half of coconut oil's fat is lauric acid, which is why it ends up in your soap as well as sweets.

Chart: Illustration: Coconut oil

Where it comes from

Chart: Map of where it comes from

Coconut palms on humid tropical coasts take years to bear, then yield for decades. Farmers split the nuts and dry the meat into copra. Output was 3.12 Mt in 2023.

Three things to know

1. World coconut oil output in 2023, 3.12 Mt, was below its 1990 level of 3.35 Mt, and many groves are old and past peak yield.
2. In real 2010 dollars, the 2025 average price of $2,136/t was nearly three times the 2019 level of $739/t.
3. India, the third-largest producer at 17.6%, uses most of its own coconut oil at home.

The journey

1. 1 Palm groveSmallholder palms on tropical coasts
2. 2 CopraKernel dried by sun, smoke or kiln
3. 3 PressingCrushed and expelled to crude oil
4. 4 RefiningRefined, bleached and deodorised
5. 5 End usesFood fats, soaps, detergents, cosmetics

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