Indonesia to send CPO mission to China

Indonesia to send CPO mission to China

Adianto.P.Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will send a trade mission to China next month to
boost Indonesian crude palm oil (CPO) exports to the country, an
executive of the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers' Association
(Gapki) said.

Gapki's chairman Derom Bangun said the trade mission would
consist of officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the
Ministry of Agriculture, Gapki and the Indonesian Cooking Oil
Industries' Association (IMMI).

During the visit, the delegation will meet with about 250
Chinese businessmen on Nov. 9 to woo them to buy more CPO from
Indonesia.

According to Derom, China, which is one of the world's largest
palm oil importers, will raise its palm oil imports to 1.4
million tons this year from 1.1 million tons last year.

"This is a good opportunity to promote our CPO to China and we
hope to gain at least 40 percent of the additional palm oil
imports," he said.

He said Indonesia had thus accounted for 330,000 tons, or
about 30 percent of China's total 1.1 million tons of imports.

Indonesia's CPO production is expected to reach 7.2 million
tons this year, compared with 6.5 million tons last year.

Earlier this year, Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's largest
palm oil producer, agreed on a joint marketing effort to woo
China to boost its palm oil import quota.

India, the world's largest palm oil buyer, bought 2.03 million
tons of CPO from Malaysia and 1.6 million tons of CPO from
Indonesia last year.