Oil Prices Rise, Trade Minister: CPO Available, but Packaging is Expensive

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Trade Minister Budi Santoso, alias Busan, stated that the price of packaged or premium cooking oil has risen due to the high cost of plastic. Busan has confirmed that the availability of crude palm oil (CPO) as a raw material for cooking oil is not an issue. Based on data from the Market and Basic Needs Monitoring System (SP2KP) of the Ministry of Trade, as of today, the national average price of premium cooking oil has reached nearly Rp 22,000 per litre. According to Busan, the issue of expensive plastic prices must be resolved immediately. Therefore, his side is continuously communicating with plastic industry players. He said they have stated that they are continuing to produce plastic using imported raw materials, which the government is also endeavouring to source from abroad. The politician from the National Mandate Party (PAN) hopes that plastic production can continue without obstacles. When raw material supplies and production are running normally, plastic prices in the market should also decrease. “Don’t let the distribution remain expensive; if production is already normal, distributors must also adjust,” Busan remarked. In fact, on 25 March, the average price of packaged premium cooking oil was Rp 21,237 per litre. Meanwhile, the price of bulk palm cooking oil as of 21 April was recorded at Rp 19,474 per litre. On 25 March, the price of bulk cooking oil was still at Rp 18,975 per litre.