China eyes tons of RI palm oil

China eyes tons of RI palm oil

JAKARTA: A group of palm oil processors from China will come to Indonesia next week as they plan to purchase 100,000 metric tons of palm oil from the world's second biggest producer, said Derom Bangun, chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association.

"They want to come here and meet directly with the Indonesian producers and exporters," Bangun said in a telephone interview from Medan, North Sumatra. "Details including the schedule of delivery will be negotiated, but I assume it would be for as early as the first quarter."

Bangun declined to identify the Chinese companies whose representatives are scheduled to arrive in Jakarta on Jan. 19. Bangun said he was told of the planned trip by the Indonesian consulate general office in Guangzhou, China. The association that he chairs has been asked to help arrange the meeting, he said.

Malaysia and Indonesia produce about 80 percent of the world's palm oil. Palm oil, used to make cooking oil and chemicals used in soaps and detergents, is soybean oil's biggest rival in the vegetable oil market. -- Bloomberg