"We are still focused on downstream palm oil processing, which has been quite successful. But we will bolster it further by building industrial areas for palm oil," said the Ministry of Industry’s Directorate General of Agro-Industry Panggah Susanto in Jakarta, Monday.
The concept of strengthening the downstream processing of palm oil will be conveyed at the Industry Ministry Working Meeting on February 16-17 that will take industrial downstream processing as its main theme.
The government has designated three industrial areas that are specifically to manage the downstream processing of palm oil products as the result of the Palm Oil Industrial Zone (POIZ) agreement with Malaysia.
The three are the Sei Mangke industrial area in North Sumatra managed by PTPN III, the Dumai Industrial Area in Riau managed by the Wilmar Group, and the East Kalimantan Industrial Estate (KTIE) managed by PT Pupuk Kaltim.
It is known that the POIZ agreement was made as an attempt by the two countries to control the market for downstream palm oil products in Asia, such as oleochemicals, kemurgi, essential oils, and other products.
Referencing data from the University of Indonesia’s Institute for Economic and Community Research, in 2015, the palm oil industrial world could be said to have succeeded in carrying out downstream processing in the field of CPO.
The palm oil cooking oil industry was the largest contributor of foreign exchange during the January-November period in 2015, with about 43.57 percent of foreign exchange derived from the food industry.
The second largest contributor of foreign exchange from the food industry was the palm oil food industry, with 21.81 percent.
This composition has undergone fundamental changes since, because in 2011, the largest contributor of foreign exchange to the food industry was the palm oil cooking oil industry, with 41.6 percent, and the palm oil frying oil industry, with 28.85 percent.
Editor: Ruslan Burhani
http://www.antaranews.com/berita/543177/kemenperin-perkuat-hilirisasi-kelapa-sawit
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