Cooking oil producers off CPO supply list
Cooking oil producers off CPO supply list
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry and Plantations Sumahadi
has appointed 14 refineries in Jakarta, Surabaya in East Java and
Medan in North Sumatra to process crude palm oil (CPO) produced
by state plantation companies PT Perkebunan Nusantara I through
XIV.
The 14 refineries, however, did not include the three cooking
oil producers which usually receive a monthly supply of about
39,200 tons of CPO from the state plantation companies.
"Olein produced by the appointed refineries will be used by
Bulog to stabilize cooking oil prices in the domestic market,"
the minister said in one of his four directives.
An executive of a state cooking oil producer questioned the
assignment of the 14 refineries, saying that the effect of the
directives might well be a new monopoly for Bulog, the state
logistics agency.
"PTPN (the 14 state plantation companies) have been asked to
sell most of their CPO to the appointed refineries. The funny
thing is that we, a state cooking oil producer cannot process CPO
produced by state plantations," the executive who asked for
anonymity said.
On Feb. 1 Bulog lost its monopolies on the distribution of all
commodities except for rice under the economic reform program
agreed with the IMF.
The refiners appointed to process the CPO from the 14 state
plantation companies include those managed by the giant Salim
Group, Sinar Mas Group, Musim Mas Group and Astra Group.
The directives sent to the board of directors of the State
Joint Marketing Office (KPB) state that the refiners will be
allocated between 3,000 and 20,000 tons of CPO every month.
"Why did the minister appoint those giant refiners which have
their own supply of CPO from their plantations?," a trader who
asked not to be named asked.
PTPN at present produces about 1.9 million tons of CPO every
year or about 30 percent of the country's total CPO production.
The directives also said that the state plantation firms
should not fulfill outstanding contracts and that any money that
had been received would have to be returned to the producers who
used to buy their CPO.
The directive was issued Wednesday, coinciding with the
government's move to officially lift the export ban on palm oil
and its derivatives.
Last December, the government forbade the export of CPO and
its derivatives to ensure sufficient supply for domestic
consumption and to stabilize domestic prices. (gis)