Govt to probe CPO smuggling<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government pledged yesterday to investigate
\nthe alleged smuggling of crude palm oil (CPO) and its byproducts
\nout of Indonesia in a bid to secure sufficient domestic supply,
\nMinister of Industry and Trade Rahardi Ramelan said yesterday.<\/p>\n
\"We will take various steps (to probe the smuggling), and we
\nwill cooperate with the security apparatus and customs office,\"
\nRahardi said after accompanying President B.J. Habibie at a
\nmeeting with about 50 major palm oil producers and processors at
\nthe Bina Graha presidential office.<\/p>\n
During the meeting, the vice chairman of the Indonesian Palm
\nOil Producers Association (GAPKI), Derom Bangun, told the
\nPresident to take all necessary measures to curb CPO smuggling
\nbecause it would disrupt CPO supply to the domestic market.<\/p>\n
Bangun, also head of the Team to Stabilize CPO Prices, said
\nexports of CPO, the main raw material for the production of
\ncooking oil, totaled only 400,000 metric tons in the first
\nsemester of this year, much lower than the one million tons in
\nthe same period last year.<\/p>\n
\"Despite the lower volume we are all experiencing a shortage
\nin the domestic supply which triggers suspicions about smuggling,
\nor what's defined as \"technical exports\" by our foreign partners.
\nTherefore the prevention of illegal exports must be intensified,\"
\nBangun told Habibie.<\/p>\n
During the meeting Habibie was accompanied by six ministers
\nincluding Rahardi, Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and
\nIndustry Ginandjar Kartasasmita, and Minister of Cooperatives and
\nSmall Enterprises Adi Sasono.<\/p>\n
Sinar Mas Group chairman Eka Tjipta Widjaja, and Salim Group
\nChief Executive Officer (CEO) Anthony Salim were also present.<\/p>\n
The shortage of cooking oil has become an acute problem, as
\nprivate CPO producers, who control 75 percent of domestic
\nproduction, prefer to export their products to benefit from
\nhigher prices overseas.<\/p>\n
The government raised the export tax on CPO and its byproducts
\nlast month to up to 60 percent from 40 percent to slow down
\nexports. However this has failed to discourage exports and the
\nprice of cooking oil has remained high due to the decline in the
\ndomestic supply.<\/p>\n
The price continues to hover between Rp 5,000 (38 U.S. cents)
\nand Rp 6,000 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
The government has also changed the cooking oil distribution
\nsystem several times recently and has bought the commodity from
\nboth private and state-owned producers at the market price and
\nthen sold it to cooperatives at the subsidized price of about Rp
\n4,000 per kilogram. But the uncertainty over the cooking oil
\nprice continues.<\/p>\n
Habibie said the government planned to give a bigger portion
\nof the cooking oil distribution network to cooperatives and small
\nenterprises to ensure the commodity reaches the consumers.<\/p>\n
\"In the distribution, we will try to give priority to small
\ncompanies and cooperatives. If they have not yet mastered
\n(distribution management) please cooperate with them,\" said
\nHabibie.<\/p>\n
The minister of industry and trade, the minister of
\ncooperatives and small enterprises, the state minister of the
\nempowerment of state enterprises Tanri Abeng and the State
\nLogistics Agency (Bulog) chairman Beddu Amang signed earlier in
\nthe day a joint decree promoting the role of cooperatives in the
\ndistribution of cooking oil.<\/p>\n
\"The decree will provide some assistance to the cooperatives
\nso they will be ready to take over Bulog's job in the
\ndistribution of cooking oil in January,\" Adi Sasono said.<\/p>\n
Rahardi said that government intervention in the domestic and
\nexport CPO markets was still needed because the price of the
\ncommodity overseas was still much higher than that at home.<\/p>\n
Beddu said that Bulog would buy 55,411 tons of cooking oil
\nthis week, 30,250 tons of which will come from private companies,
\nwith the remaining 25,161 tons coming from state plantation
\ncompanies PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) through a tender to
\nboost cooking oil supply.<\/p>\n
\"The price will range between Rp 4,750 and Rp 4,850 per
\nkilogram, with total transaction value reaching Rp 300 billion,\"
\nhe told journalists at his office.<\/p>\n
Beddu said that the agency would hold a tender every Tuesday
\nuntil the domestic cooking oil price stabilized at between Rp
\n3,900 and Rp 4,000 per kilogram.<\/p>\n
With such a strategy, he said, he was optimistic the cooking
\noil price would drop to the government's reference level of Rp
\n4,000. (prb\/gis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-probe-cpo-smuggling-1447893297",
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