The Biggest Palm Oil Companies

Published September 30, 2026 · Updated October 3, 2026 · 4 min read

Palm oil comes almost entirely from Indonesia and Malaysia, where large plantation groups grow oil palms next to millions of smallholders. For plantation companies the usual measure of size is planted area rather than revenue, because many of them also refine and trade oil bought from others. These are the ten largest by oil palm planted area in their latest report:

Oil palm planted area from company reports; Golden Agri-Resources, Astra Agro Lestari and Bumitama include smallholder (plasma) schemes they manage, Indofood Agri Resources is nucleus estates only, and KLK's figure includes a small share of rubber. 2024/25 is a financial year ending in 2025. Several groups headquartered in Singapore farm mainly in Indonesia.

The ten companies in brief

SD Guthrie

Known as Sime Darby Plantation until June 2024, SD Guthrie is listed in Kuala Lumpur and controlled by Malaysia's state investment fund PNB. It has the world's largest planted area of oil palms, in Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, and refines part of its oil itself.

Golden Agri-Resources

Listed in Singapore and controlled by Indonesia's Widjaja family (Sinar Mas group), Golden Agri-Resources grows oil palms in Indonesia, largely through its subsidiary SMART, and runs refineries and a trading business that sells palm oil and its products worldwide.

FGV Holdings

FGV grew out of FELDA, the Malaysian state agency that since the 1950s has settled families on land to grow oil palms and rubber. Listed in 2012 in one of the largest palm-oil flotations, it was taken off the stock exchange in August 2025 after FELDA bought out the other shareholders.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK)

Listed in Kuala Lumpur and controlled by the Lee family through the holding Batu Kawan, KLK grows oil palms in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is also one of the largest makers of oleochemicals - palm-based ingredients for soaps, cosmetics and detergents - with plants in Asia and Europe.

Astra Agro Lestari

Listed in Jakarta, Astra Agro Lestari is the plantation arm of Astra International, Indonesia's large industrial group, which in turn belongs to Hong Kong's Jardine Matheson. Its plantations are on Sumatra and Kalimantan and include smallholder schemes it manages.

First Resources

Listed in Singapore and controlled by the Fangiono family, First Resources grows oil palms in the Indonesian provinces of Riau and Kalimantan and refines and sells palm oil and biodiesel.

Indofood Agri Resources

IndoAgri is the Singapore-registered plantation arm of Indofood, part of Indonesia's Salim group. Besides oil palms it grows sugarcane and rubber, and its cooking oil and margarine are sold in Indonesia under brands such as Bimoli.

Wilmar International

The Singapore-listed Wilmar is better known as the largest palm-oil refiner and trader than as a grower, but it also runs its own plantations in Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa. Its profile is in the article on the largest grain traders.

Bumitama Agri

Listed in Singapore, Bumitama grows oil palms in Indonesian Kalimantan; it is controlled by the Lim family, and Malaysia's IOI Corporation holds about a third of the shares. Like many Indonesian growers it manages plantations for smallholders alongside its own.

IOI Corporation

Listed in Kuala Lumpur and controlled by the Lee family, IOI grows oil palms in Malaysia and Indonesia and produces oleochemicals and specialty fats. It also owns about a third of Bumitama Agri.

Growers, refiners and traders

Owning land and refining oil are different businesses. Wilmar, Musim Mas and Apical run the largest networks of refineries and export terminals and buy much of their fruit and crude oil from other plantations and smallholders; Musim Mas and Apical are privately held and publish little. Malaysia's leaders SD Guthrie (formerly Sime Darby Plantation), FGV and KLK have state-linked or family roots, while Indonesia's are parts of large conglomerates such as Sinar Mas (Golden Agri), Astra and Salim (Indofood).

What drives their output

An oil palm yields best between about 10 and 20 years of age, so ageing estates must be replanted, which cuts output for several years; Golden Agri alone replanted 16,800 hectares in 2025. Drought during El Niño years lowers yields with a delay of six to twelve months, as explained in El Niño and La Niña.

What it means for prices

Because Indonesia and Malaysia dominate exports, their policies move world prices: Indonesia's biodiesel blending mandate keeps more oil at home, its export levies change what foreign buyers pay, and its short export ban in 2022 sent prices sharply higher. EU rules on deforestation-free supply chains are pushing buyers towards traceable oil. Palm oil prices also move with soybean, sunflower and rapeseed oil, as described in The Vegetable Oil Complex.