By Bernadette Christina
JAKARTA, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Indonesia's palm oil exports
fell 8.5% last year because of a volatile regulatory environment
and sluggish output that is expected to continue this year, the
Indonesia Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said on Wednesday.
The world's top palm oil producer exported 30.8 million
tonnes of palm oil product in 2022, down from 33.7 million
tonnes a year earlier.
To control soaring prices of domestic cooking oil last
year, the government implemented various changes in palm oil
export policy, including a three-week export ban starting in
late April.
A slight drop in palm oil production last year amid
rising domestic consumption in the energy sector also
contributed to the lower exports, GAPKI Chairman Joko Priyono
told a media briefing.
"Biodiesel consumption (last year) jumped because
consumption of fuel rose after the pandemic," he said.
Indonesia uses palm oil as a feedstock for its 30%
mandatory blend in biodiesel. The blend will be raised to 35% in
February and will be known as B35.
Last year, the Southeast Asian nation produced 46.7 million
tonnes of crude palm oil, down 0.4% from 2021. It also produced
4.5 million tonnes of palm kernel oil.
"This is the fourth year of stagnant output while
domestic consumption continues rising," Joko said.
"In 2023, we expect production to be stagnant again due
to high fertiliser prices. Farmers have been using lower dosage,
which would affect output this year."
Indonesia's palm oil stocks were 3.65 million tonnes by
the end of 2022.
2021 2022
CPO + kernel oil production 51.30 51.29
Total domestic consumption 18.42 20.97
--Biodiesel consumption 7.34 8.84
Exports 33.67 30.80
Ending stock 4.13 3.65
(in million tonnes)
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina Munthe; Writing by Fransiska
Nangoy; Editing by Ed Davies, Martin Petty and Christian
Schmollinger)
“Penyelenggara. Pakar budaya pop yang sangat menawan. Penginjil perjalanan kelas atas. Pemecah masalah yang tak tersembuhkan.”
