Local producers continue to favor exporting CPO<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Many crude palm oil (CPO) producers have not
\nbeen supporting the government's program to stabilize cooking oil
\nprices in the domestic market.<\/p>\n
An official of the government-sponsored Joint Marketing Office
\n(KPB), which handles the marketing of farm products produced by
\nstate-owned plantation companies, said that many CPO producers
\nstill preferred exporting their produce despite a 40 percent
\nexport tax.<\/p>\n
\"This has hurt the government's program to stabilize cooking
\noil prices at home,\" the official, who asked for anonymity, said.<\/p>\n
He said KPB had urged producers to sell their produce at home,
\nbut that CPO was still being exported in large quantities.<\/p>\n
CPO is the main raw material in cooking oil production.<\/p>\n
The official named several big producers, including PT Darmex,
\nPD Kemajuan, Inti Boga Sejahtera of the Salim Group, SMART of the
\nSinar Mas Group, Asean Agro and Hasil Kesatuan, as companies
\nwhich still preferred to sell their produce overseas.<\/p>\n
He said the international price of CPO was currently much
\nhigher than domestic prices, a fact that drew many companies to
\nexport their produce despite the high export tax.<\/p>\n
Last month, Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan
\nordered KPB to buy all cooking oil from the Association of
\nIndonesian Edible Oil Industries (AIMMI) and sell it directly to
\nmarket retail cooperatives (Inkoppas) in Jakarta at Rp 3,500 per
\nkilogram.<\/p>\n
The cooperatives would then sell cooking oil at city markets
\nfor no more than Rp 4,000 per kg. Private producers are allowed
\nto sell directly to retailers at Rp 3,500 per kg.<\/p>\n
The measure, effective May 27, replaced a system under which
\nthe marketing office and plantation firms had to sell CPO to the
\nState Logistics Agency (Bulog). The agency is notorious for its
\ninefficiency and lack of transparency in its distribution
\nnetwork.<\/p>\n
Bulog sold CPO to several appointed refineries to be processed
\ninto cooking oil before buying it back as a finished product and
\ndistributing it on the domestic market.<\/p>\n
KPB data shows that the office supplied 16,267 tons of cooking
\noil to the domestic market in the May 27 to June 11 period. It
\nsells 300 metric tons to 500 tons of cooking oil per day, which
\nis mostly distributed to Inkoppas, retailers and workers'
\ncooperatives.<\/p>\n
The official said that until last week, KPB had only supplied
\ncooking oil to Inkoppas, but that since the cooperatives were
\nincapable of influencing the market price because their
\ndistribution capacity was a mere 50 tons a day, it was also
\nselling cooking oil to other retailers.<\/p>\n
Inkoppas do not have a sufficiently large cash flow to be able
\nto keep a large volume of cooking oil on hand for a long period
\nof time, he said.<\/p>\n
The Cooking Oil Distributors Forum urged private cooking oil
\nproducers to sell their produce locally, saying that KPB's
\nefforts to stabilize the cooking oil price would not succeed if
\nit was not supported by private producers.<\/p>\n
Forum secretary Karebet said cooking oil prices would go up
\nagain if private companies refused to sell their products on the
\ndomestic market.<\/p>\n
\"I fear that cooking oil prices will soar again if private
\ncompanies don't help, especially because KPB's distribution is
\nnot running smoothly,\" Karebet said.<\/p>\n
He said that cooking oil distribution from KPB's stock to
\nInkoppas and retailers was often delayed for days, causing a
\nscarcity of cooking oil on the market.<\/p>\n
But he admitted that KPB had been able to force down cooking
\noil prices to the Rp 4,000 to Rp 4,400 per kg range from a
\nprevious price of Rp 6,000 per kg.<\/p>\n
Earlier reports quoted trade sources as saying that using KPB
\nto stabilize cooking oil prices was no use because some KPB
\nofficials were allegedly involved in collusive practices with
\nseveral giant cooking oil producers. (gis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/local-producers-continue-to-favor-exporting-cpo-1447893297",
"image": ""
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