JAKARTA – The ministry of industry (Kemenperin) has symbolically inaugurated the start of pilot project of palm sugar production from the trunks of old oil palm trees subjected to replanting program. The project is part of the government’s efforts of accelerating downstreaming in the Indonesian palm oil industries and increasing the local people’s economies.

“It’s a continuation of the signing of cooperation agreement between PTPN IV/Palmco and the cooperative of  Koperasi Produsen Gerak Nusantara Sejahtera (KPGNS) on 10 April 2025,” Kemenperin’s Agroindustry Director General Putu Juli Ardika said in his online speech on Monday (23/6/2025).

Putu said that the pilot project is part of the government’s downstreaming acceleration program in the palm oil industries and optimization of the use of the ex-replanting trees as alternative source of sugar production.

“The use of old palm trees for sugar production is not just industrial innovation. It is also a sustainable solution for empowerment of people’s economies, especially during the three year period of replanting, during which the smallholders could not yet earn income from their palm plantations,” he said.

Based on calculation, one hectare of palm plantation with 25 – 30 old oil palm trees can produce between 5,000 – 6,000 liters of palm sap per month. With the replanting  target of 300,000 hectares per year, potential production of palm sugar can reach around 1.5 – 1.9 million kiloliters per year, with an estimated total market value of around Rp3.0 trillion. It is a very big potential to economically empower the local people around the oil palm plantations.

“The palm-based brown sugar has a very prospective market as raw material for industries of soy sauce, traditional syrop, and ready-to-consume liquid sugar,” said Putu. According to him, the technology to process the brown sugar from palm trees has been advancing rapidly. For its safe use as consumption sugar, it can be supported with the national standard of SNI 01-6237-2000 of brown sugar. (*)