JAKARTA – The Indonesian government has recently announced that it will extend its policy of palm oil export levy waiver until December 2022. The extension of the zero export levy has been warmly welcomed by the palm oil industry players as it will make them more competitive at the global market of vegetable oils.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Association’s (GAPKI) Communication Division Head Tofan Mahdi said that around 70 percent of Indonesia’s total palm oil products are exported. The demand for Indonesia’s palm oil products has been rising as the supply of sunflower at the global market of vegetable oils is being disrupted by the Russia –Ukraine war which sees no signs of ending soon. Ukraine is the world’s largest producer of sunflower.
“When the supply of vegetable oils in Europe decreases, then the most possible way to solve the shortage is by using the palm oil from Indonesia. So, looking forward we see the demand for palm oil will stay high,” Tofan told IDX Channel on Wednesday, 2 November 2022.
He said that the good news is that the palm oil industry has already returned to its normal condition after facing tough challenges for some time due to a number of palm oil export policies, which include export ban. “So, we can say this is a good opportunity for the producers to improve the sustainability of palm oil. We’ve seen many challenges facing the palm oil industry during this year. It needed some time to recover from such challenges. But now the industry has returned to normal,” he said.
Previously, Economic Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto announced that the government has decided to extend its policy of exempting the palm oil products and derivatives from export levy until 31 December 2022. But, if the price benchmark of palm oil reaches US$800 per ton then the incentive will be revoked.
The decision is based on the result of meeting with the oil palm plantation fund management board (BPDPKS) on Monday, 31 October 2022. “We decided to maintain this incentive. We extend the US$0 levy until the price benchmark will reach or surpass US$800 per metric ton. Currently, the price is around US$713 per MT, so the export levy of US$0/MT will apply until December. But once the price reach US$800, the levy waiver policy will be revoked,” Airlangga stated in a press release. (*)
Source: ekbis.sindonews.com