Jakarta – A Trade Attache to the Indonesian Embassy for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia stated that Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Company (SALIC) is interested to invest in the palm oil industry in Indonesia.
“Concerning edible oil, SALIC is very interested to cooperate with Indonesia as Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of crude palm oil (CPO),” said Gunawan in a written statement in Jakarta on 26 July 2023.
Gunawan mentioned that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected in 2022/2023 Indonesia’s CPO production to reach 45.5 million metric tons and Malaysia’s CPO production to reach 18.8 million metric tons. Combined, both countries’ CPO production reached 64.3 million metric tons which covered 83% of the world’s total CPO production at 77.22 million metric tons.
Further, oil palm’s export value from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia in 2022 reached US$265.73 million, which increased from US$259.02 million in 2021. In 2020, the export value reached US$89.43 million. The growth of export value from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia increased by 44% in the 2018-2022 period.
Meanwhile, in 2022, Saudi Arabia imported over 225.98 million metric tons of cooking oil, which account for 32% of its total need. Indonesian Ambassador in Riyadh, Abdul Aziz Ahmad, said that in the 2020-2022 period, Saudi Arabia exported respectively US$124.9 million, US$117.76 million, and US$884.19 million from various countries.
In total, Saudi Arabia imported 669.65 million metric tons of cooking oil in 2022 alone, and the 2018-2022 period saw 38% growth in export value. “It contributed to 2% of the total goods and services imported by Saudi Arabia,” said Abdul. Biggest cooking oil suppliers for Saudi Arabia are Malaysia, Indonesia, Oman, UAE, Singapore, Egypt, Canada, Spain, and the USA.
SALIC is a subsidiary initiated by the Saudi Arabia Monarch, and established through a national, regional, and international partnership. The ownership is based on the composite owned by the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi Arabia Monarch. (*)
Source: TEMPO.CO
