In the First Semester, Palm Oil Exports to the European Union Grew by 42%

"The increase is quite significant, considering Europe is implementing trade barriers by issuing the European Parliament's resolution last March," said Gapki Executive Director Fadhil Hasan in a written statement. In addition to Europe, Gapki recorded that the export performance in semester I/2017 generally grew positively. The national palm oil export volume in semester I/2017 reached 16.6 million tons or increased by 25% compared to the same period last year by 12.5 million tons. The exports to primary destination countries also grew positively except for Pakistan. Exports in semester I to Pakistan were recorded to go down by 5% compared to the same period in 2016 from 1.1 million tons in 2016 to 1.05 million tons this year. However, the export volume of Indonesian palm oil to India in semester I/2017 grew quite significantly, which increased by 43% compared to the same period last year from 2.6 million tons to 3.8 million tons. The export increase also occurred in the African countries market by 36.5%, Bangladesh by 29%, the United States by 27%, and China by 18%. In another part, the Minister of Industry (Menperin) Airlangga Hartarto said that Indonesia and Malaysia are ready to synergize in fulfilling palm oil needs to support the Chinese Government's policy in implementing a biodiesel program by mixing 5% with solar or B5. "We agreed to jointly encourage China to use B5 in order to reduce the trade deficit with Indonesia and Malaysia at the same time as being an environmentally friendly energy," said Airlangga last week. (rzk) Source: economy.okezone.com ------------------------------------- Tuesday, August 29, 2017 JAKARTA – The palm oil industry still faces the challenge of an overabundance of other plant products which disrupts the price quite a lot. Based on data presented by the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki), the export volume of Indonesian palm oil (CPO and PKO (palm kernel oil) and its derivatives, including oleochemicals and biodiesel, reached 16.6 million tons. This performance increased by 25 percent if compared to the same period last year which only reached 12.5 million tons. Meanwhile, Indonesian palm oil production in the first half of 2017 has reached 18.15 million tons. This number shows a growth of 18.6 percent compared to last year's production in the same period which was 15.30 million tons. Production in the first half of 2017 was still influenced by last year's El Nino (an increase in ocean surface temperature that caused weather anomaly) so it was not optimal. Throughout the first half of 2017, the CPO price moved in the range of USD 650–USD 827.50 per metric ton. The price in January was quite promising with an average of USD 805.7 per metric ton. "From this, the impact of the economic downturn can be seen. The price continued to decline along with the sluggish global economy which resulted in sluggish demand and an overabundance of other plant oil production which caused the price to become cheaper,'' said Gapki Executive Director Fadhil Hasan. Last weekend, the Indonesian government stated that it will synergize with Malaysia to fill the CPO supply to China. "We agreed to jointly encourage China to use B5 in order to reduce the trade deficit with Indonesia and Malaysia at the same time as being an environmentally friendly energy,'' explained the Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto who previously met with the Malaysian Minister of Plantation and Commodity Industries Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong. The export plan received a positive response from Gapki. "China's potential is still very large. It's an opportunity for us. The largest markets for Indonesian CPO are India, the European Union, China, and Pakistan,'' said Gapki spokesman Tofan Mahdi with conviction. During the first half of 2017, Indonesia's palm oil export performance to primary destination countries also grew positively, except for Pakistan. Exports in the first half to Pakistan decreased by five percent compared to the same period last year or from 1.1 million tons in the first half of 2016 down to 1.05 million tons in the same period this year. The Middle Eastern countries also experienced a decline, recording 12 percent. "The sluggishness of the global palm oil market is influenced by the overabundance of other plant oil production such as soybeans and rapeseed,'' added Tofan. The overabundance of production caused the price of soybeans and rapeseed to fall so palm oil which is not the main vegetable oil in Europe, the Americas, and China is ranked even lower. On the other side, Indonesian palm oil production in June is still stagnant and tends to slightly decline. Production in June was only able to reach 3.327 million tons or around three thousand tons compared to production last May which reached 3.33 million tons. Source: www.jpnn.com