Setu Sharda's questions to ARHUF leadership • Q1 2025
Question
Asked about end-market volume trends for Food Ingredients, the sustainability of driving margins with declining volumes, the definition and proportion of non-specialty oils, and the potential indirect impact of U.S. tariffs on palm oil competitiveness.
Answer
The company declined to forecast end-market volumes but stated that driving margins while losing some low-profit volume is a sustainable, strategic balancing act. Non-specialty ('industrial') oils constitute about 10% of group volume and are mainly low-margin side streams. Regarding tariffs, they see potential for customer reformulation as an opportunity due to their broad oil portfolio and believe the impact is manageable, as raw material prices have seen larger fluctuations in the past.