CPO Prices Surge Due to Geopolitical Conditions and High Demand
Jakarta – The Ministry of Trade has set the reference price (HR) for the crude palm oil (CPO) commodity for export duties (BK) and export levies (PE) for the period 1-30 April 2026 at US$989.63 per metric tonne (MT).
Director General of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Trade, Tommy Andana, stated that the HR has increased by US$50.76, or 5.41 per cent, from the March 2026 period, which was US$938.87 per MT, due to the current geopolitical situation.
“This increase is caused by rising demand not matched by increased supply due to production declines, as well as higher crude oil prices resulting from the geopolitical situation in the Middle East,” said Tommy in his statement on Wednesday, 1 April 2026.
Accordingly, the CPO BK for the 1-30 April 2026 period is set at US$148 per MT, referring to “Column 8 of Attachment Letter C of Minister of Finance Regulation (PMK) Number 38 of 2024 jo. PMK Number 68 of 2025”.
The CPO PE is US$123.7035 per MT or 12.5 per cent of the CPO HR for the 1-30 April 2026 period, referring to “Attachment Letter A of PMK Number 69 of 2025 jo. PMK Number 9 of 2026”.
Tommy said the source of the CPO HR determination was the average price over the period from 20 February 2026 to 19 March 2026. During that period, the average reference price on the Indonesian CPO Exchange was US$896.94 per MT. Meanwhile, the Malaysian CPO Exchange was US$1,082.31 per MT, and the Port CPO Rotterdam price was US$1,319.84 per MT.
Based on Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 35 of 2025, if there is a difference in average prices from the three price sources exceeding US$40, the CPO HR calculation uses the average of the two price sources that are the median and the closest to the median.
In addition, branded packaged cooking oil products (Refined, Bleached, and Deodorized/RBD palm olein) packaged with a net weight of less than or equal to (≤) 25 kilograms (kg) are subject to a BK of US$33 per MT.
The determination of brands is listed in “Minister of Trade Decision (Kepmendag) Number 561 of 2026 on the List of Brands of Refined, Bleached, and Deodorized (RBD) Palm Olein in Branded Packaging with Net Weight ≤ 25 Kg”.