Indonesia to lift ban on palm oil exports from May 23

Indonesia on Thursday said it would lift a one-month ban on palm oil exports, citing improved supply of bulk cooking oil and improving domestic prices. President Joko Widodo said exports would resume on Monday. Indonesia and Malaysia are the world’s largest exporters of palm oil, playing important roles in their economies. They account for 85% of global palm oil production.

The war in Ukraine has put pressure on global supplies of cooking oil, which accounts for nearly half of the world’s sunflower oil, up from Russia at 25%. Palm oil prices rose 200 percent or more after Indonesia banned exports of cooking oil and its raw materials to ease local shortages and prevent skyrocketing prices.

Widodo told a press conference that his government plans to lift the ban if the price of bulk cooking oil reaches Rs 14,000 (0.96) per litre. He said it still hasn’t reached the target, but he expects it to drop further in the next few weeks as more palm oil becomes available.

“Based on the current supply and price of cooking oil and given that there are 17 million workers in the palm oil industry, both working farmers and other ancillary workers, I have decided that the export of cooking oil is Will reopen in May. Widodo said.

He said the national demand for bulk cooking oil is around 194,000 tonnes per month. Before the export ban, supply had reached 64,500 tonnes, and since then, it has more than tripled to more than 211,000 tonnes per month. He said law enforcement agencies are investigating allegations of breaches and fraud in the distribution and production of cooking oil.

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