JAKARTA — The palm oil industry had continually earned foreign exchange for Indonesia during 2022, despite the fact that the global economy was still being haunted by the Covid-19 pandemic that had ravaged the industrial sectors, except several ones that include the palm oil industry.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) reported on Wednesday, 25 January 2023, that during 2022 the palm oil industry contributed the foreign exchange at a total of US$39 billion or more than Rp583 trillion.

“We’re dealing with a number of incidents in 2022, but we managed to weather through them safely. Apparently, the palm oil industry contributed US$39 billion in foreign exchange, which was the highest level during its history in Indonesia. It has proven that the palm oil industry continues to play a very important role in Indonesian economy as has been indicated by its rising contribution to the trade balance,” GAPKI Chairman Joko Supriyono said during a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.

Joko said that the domestic consumption of palm oil in 2022 reached 20.968 million tons, which was higher than that in 2021 at 18.442 million tons. The local consumption was dominated by the food industries at 9.94 million tons, followed by oleo-chemical at 2.185 million tons, and biodiesel at 8.84 million tons.

The production of CPO in 2022 amounted to 46.7 million tons, which slightly decreased by 0.34% compared to that in 2021 at 46.88 million tons. Joko noted that the year 2022 was the fourth consecutive year that saw continual downtrend or stagnation of  production since the commercialization of palm oil in Indonesia.

“Last year was the fourth consecutive year that we saw our production stagnant, while domestic need has been steadily rising. It will be rising further as the government is set to start the implementation of mandatory B35 program next month,” he said. (*)

Source: wartaekonomi.co.id | Featured image via guardian.ng