Indonesia will lift its palm oil export ban from May 23, President Joko Widodo announced on Thursday, after improving domestic cooking oil supply conditions.
The president said in a video statement that the decision to lift the ban was taken despite the price of bulk cooking oil not yet reaching the target price of Rs 14,000 per liter, as the government was focused on the welfare of 17 million workers in the palm oil industry. thinks. ,
Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil exporter, halted shipments of crude palm oil and some of its derivative products on April 28 to control rising prices of domestic cooking oil, triggering a stir in global vegetable oil markets.
Hundreds of Indonesian small farmers protested in the capital Jakarta and other parts of the country, demanding the government end the ban on exporting palm oil, which has eroded their income.
Gulat Manurung, president of the Indonesian Oil Palm Farmers Association, said the export ban, designed to quell the domestic price of cooking oil, has caused “economic hardship” for about 16 million farmers, as low prices for the fruit no longer cover the cost.
Despite the ban, cooking oil remains above the official guidance of Rs 14,000 (96 cents) per litre.
In a statement, small farmers’ group APKASINDO said that since the export ban, the price of palm fruit has come down by 70% from the minimum price set by the regional authorities.
Independent farmers are not protected from the floor price, which is decided through an agreement between mills and large-scale cooperatives.
APKASINDO estimates that at least 25% of palm oil mills have stopped buying palm fruit from independent farmers since the ban began, indicating that the mills are filling up storage tanks.