Indonesia’s Palm Oil Industry Shows Signs of Recovery

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesia’s palm oil industry reported an increase in production in September compared to previous months.

Mukti Sardjono, Executive Director of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI), said that Indonesia’s palm oil production is showing signs of recovery after three consecutive months of improvements.

In July, Indonesia’s palm oil production reached 3.85 million tons then increased to 4.38 million tons in August. This was then followed by a further uptick to 4.73 million tons in September.

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The recent performance of Indonesia’s palm oil industry remains below the year-on-year figures from 2019 during which palm oil production was 4.7 percent higher.

“The value of crude palm oil rose to $1.871 million, up 10 percent compared to export value in August which was $1.697 million,” said Mukti.

Up to September 2020, the export value of Indonesia’s palm oil reached $15.498 million, a slight increase from last year’s figures of $14.458 million during the same period.

In terms of volume, Indonesia’s palm oil production reached 2.764 thousand tons, a 3 percent increase of 81,000 tons from the August data of 2.683 thousand tons.

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China remains the main export destination for Indonesia’s palm oil industry where 645.000 tons of crude palm oil reached the country, up from 618.000 tons in August.

“Domestic palm oil consumption over the past four months have consistently increased and in September, reached 667.000 tons.”

Palm oil consumption in September 2020 is 15.8 percent lower than the same period in 2019.

“We are anticipating another increase in Indonesia’s palm oil production driven by stronger domestic consumption and exports.”

(Writer: Rully R. Ramli | Editor: Yoga Sukmana)

Source: https://money.kompas.com/read/2020/11/12/203916926/produksi-dan-ekspor-cpo-mulai-merangkak-naik