InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – As climate change, geopolitical tensions, trade disruptions and food price volatility reshape global markets, corporate power across the world's food and agriculture system is becoming increasingly concentrated.
A growing number of major agribusiness corporations now extend their influence far beyond seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and agricultural machinery. Their reach increasingly spans commodity trading, food processing, bioenergy and vegetable oil supply chains, including the global palm oil industry.
The trend was highlighted in recent research by ETC Group and GRAIN, which examined the growing concentration of corporate power across the global food system.
Their 2025 findings show that corporate concentration remains particularly high across major agricultural sectors. Five of the six sectors examined—commercial seeds, pesticides, agricultural machinery, animal pharmaceuticals and pig genetics—display characteristics associated with oligopolistic markets, where a small number of companies control a significant share of global business.
The findings underline how global agriculture is becoming increasingly dependent on decisions made by a relatively small group of corporations, influencing everything from technology and inputs at farm level to commodity distribution across international markets.
Four Giants Dominate Seeds and Pesticides
In the commercial seed sector, four companies—Bayer, Corteva Agriscience, Syngenta and BASF—collectively control around 50% of the global market based on 2024 sales data.
The same four companies also account for approximately 56% of the global pesticide market.
Bayer remains the largest player in commercial seeds with an estimated market share of around 20%, followed by Corteva at 17%, Syngenta at 9% and BASF at 4%.
In pesticides, Syngenta leads with an estimated 22% share, followed by Bayer at 14%, BASF at 11% and Corteva at 9%.
The competition is also moving beyond traditional agricultural inputs.
Artificial intelligence, gene editing, agricultural data and digital technologies are emerging as increasingly important battlegrounds. AI-assisted plant breeding, for example, could accelerate the development of new crop varieties.
At the same time, the shift raises questions over whether companies with the deepest financial resources and strongest control over technology, data and intellectual property could gain even greater influence over the future of agriculture.
Palm Oil Is Not Outside the Concentration Trend
While the GRAIN and ETC Group reports do not specifically rank the world's largest palm oil companies, similar patterns can be seen throughout the global vegetable oil and palm oil supply chain.
The modern palm oil industry has evolved into a deeply integrated business.
Corporate control can extend from nurseries and plantations to palm oil mills, refineries, cooking oil production, oleochemicals, specialty fats and biodiesel. In many cases, it also includes ports, shipping, warehouses and international trading networks.
This level of vertical integration gives major companies greater ability to manage supplies, control logistics costs, secure access to markets and capture value at multiple stages of the supply chain.
One of the largest players is Wilmar International, the Singapore-based agribusiness group with extensive operations in vegetable oils, palm oil, food products, oleochemicals and biofuels.
According to its 2025 annual report, Wilmar generated approximately US$70.42 billion in revenue and US$1.41 billion in net profit. The group operates more than 1,000 manufacturing facilities across 36 countries and territories, with distribution networks reaching China, India, Indonesia and around 50 other countries and territories.
In palm oil, Wilmar describes itself as one of the largest plantation owners and a major player in palm oil refining, palm kernel processing, specialty fats, oleochemicals and biodiesel in Indonesia and Malaysia.
By the end of 2025, Wilmar's planted oil palm area stood at approximately 234,334 hectares, excluding additional estates operated through joint ventures and smallholder management arrangements in Indonesia and Africa.
Golden Agri and the Power of Integrated Supply Chains
Another major player is Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), one of the world's largest integrated palm-based plantation and agribusiness groups.
GAR's 2025 annual report shows that the company managed around 531,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, including plasma estates.
Its operations span crude palm oil and palm kernel production through to cooking oil, margarine, shortening, biodiesel, oleochemicals and the trading of palm-based products.
In 2025, GAR recorded nearly US$13 billion in revenue and around US$400 million in net profit.
Its products are distributed to more than 110 countries through an integrated network of marketing operations, logistics facilities, ports, warehouses and trading infrastructure.
The scale of these operations illustrates how influence in the palm oil industry is no longer determined solely by plantation size.
Control over downstream facilities, logistics and international trading networks has become equally important in shaping a company's position in the global market.
From Plantations to Refineries and Global Markets
Beyond Wilmar and GAR, several other major groups hold important positions in regional and global palm oil markets, including Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK), Musim Mas, as well as global agribusiness and commodity trading companies such as Cargill, Bunge and ADM.
Their business models and levels of involvement in palm oil vary. Yet the broader strategy is similar: strengthening market positions through supply chain integration, investment in processing capacity, expansion of trading operations, control over logistics and the development of higher-value products.
For Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's leading palm oil-producing countries, this structure carries major strategic importance.
Both countries are not merely suppliers of raw materials. They are also central hubs for production, refining and the development of a wide range of palm-based products.
Future competition is increasingly expected to shift beyond crude palm oil production toward control over technology, data, renewable energy, traceability and market access.
What Corporate Concentration Means for Smallholders
For Indonesia, the issue of global agribusiness concentration is particularly significant because the palm oil industry involves millions of smallholders and remains a major contributor to export earnings.
As large corporations gain control over more points in the supply chain—from agricultural inputs and financing to technology, trading and processing—the bargaining position of smaller businesses and farmers could come under increasing pressure.
GRAIN and ETC Group argue that corporate concentration can strengthen the ability of major companies to influence prices, policies and the direction of agricultural technology.
The reports also highlight how large corporations continue to expand their influence through acquisitions, digital technology investments and cross-sector partnerships.
In the palm oil industry, the challenge is particularly complex.
Smallholders need access not only to quality planting materials, fertilisers and production technology, but also to reliable markets and fair prices for their crops.
Strengthening farmer institutions, cooperatives, financing access, certification systems and supply chain transparency will therefore become increasingly important to ensure that smallholders do not remain merely raw material suppliers in an industry increasingly dominated by large integrated players.
The Next Battle: Data, AI and Bioenergy
The latest research also points to a new phase in agribusiness concentration driven by technology.
Artificial intelligence, gene editing, digital platforms and agricultural data are emerging as new sources of corporate power. Companies that historically dominated seeds or agricultural chemicals are increasingly building partnerships with technology firms to accelerate product development and expand access to valuable data.
The same trend is relevant to palm oil.
Plantations are becoming increasingly connected to satellite monitoring, artificial intelligence, sensors, drones, digital mapping, traceability systems and carbon emissions measurement.
The key question is who will control the data and technologies that underpin these systems.
If access remains concentrated among a small number of large companies, the technology gap between corporate producers and smallholders could widen further.
But if innovation becomes more accessible, digitalisation could also create opportunities to improve smallholder productivity and strengthen Indonesia's position in the global palm oil industry.
Ultimately, the growing concentration of corporate power in agribusiness is a reminder that the next battle for control will not take place only on plantations.
It will also be fought in refineries, ports, data centres, laboratories, logistics networks and global commodity trading rooms.
For Indonesia's palm oil industry, the challenge is not simply to maintain its position as the world's largest producer, but to ensure that value creation, technology and bargaining power across the global supply chain do not become increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of corporations while smallholders remain at the bottom of the industry structure. (T2)
Source: InfoSAWIT
