CPO output seen to reach 9.9m tons

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Crude palm oil (CPO) production in Indonesia is expected to reach 9.9 million tons by the end of this year, 6.5 percent higher than last year, according to the chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki), Derom Bangun.

Derom said over the weekend that as of June 2003, CPO production had reached 6.8 million tons, 3.15 million tons of which were exported. He also said that Gapki had targeted production of 10.4 million tons for 2004.

The largest Indonesian CPO importers are India and China. As of June 2003, total CPO exports to India were 1.8 million tons, with 329,000 tons to China.

Derom said that Indonesia, the world's second-largest CPO producer after Malaysia, still needed to boost its CPO trade with other foreign countries, especially large markets such as the United States, Africa, Europe and Russia.

"We are far behind Malaysia in CPO exports," said Derom.

He mentioned as an example that in China, Indonesia could win only 16 percent of the market in 2003, while Malaysia probably took the rest.

He also said that in 2001, Indonesian CPO exports to Russia had reached 40,000 tons, but declined to 13,000 tons in 2002 due to lack of promotion by the government.

However, exports to Russia rose again this year thanks to a barter deal for Sukhoi jet fighters. Exports to Russia reached 40,000 tons as of September and Indonesia will probably export around 30,000 tons by the end of the year.

Derom repeated calls on the government to help promote CPO exports abroad by taking action such as holding promotional trade visits to various countries.

Elsewhere, Derom predicted that there would be no cooking oil supply shortage, despite the upcoming Idul Fitri, Christmas and New Year holidays.

"Lack of cooking oil supply has not occurred in Indonesia, because our CPO production is sufficient to meet demand," said Derom.

Data from the Central Bureau of Statistics states that CPO consumption per capita in Indonesia is 13.6 kg. Thus, with a total population of around 200 million people, Indonesia needs approximately 3 million tons per year.