Producers allege CPO smuggling

JAKARTA (JP): Crude palm oil (CPO) producers in North Sumatra have urged the Attorney General's Office to investigate alleged CPO smuggling by PT Bukit Kapur Reksa through the Riau seaport of Dumai.

"Such contraband trade sabotages the cooking oil price stabilization program and is not fair to us," they said in a statement.

The producers also called on the Cooking Oil Producers Association to bring up the smuggling issue with the attorney general.

The government has completely banned the export of CPO and its derivatives from January until March in a contingency program to stabilize cooking oil prices, but coconut oil is not included in the export ban.

"The government should investigate thoroughly the alleged export smuggling of CPO and its derivatives through Dumai," Derom Bangun, the chairman of the association, was quoted by Bisnis Indonesia daily as saying in Medan.

The producers alleged that Bukit Kapur Reksa was about to export 3,000 tons of refined bleached deodorized (RBD) palm kernel oil from Dumai to the United States on Jan. 27.

Earlier on Jan. 7, they said, Bukit Kapur Reksa also succeeded in smuggling to Singapore 33,000 tons of CPO and its derivatives. The shipment was made by the MV Fertility.

They showed a copy of the document issued by shipping agency PT Samudra Petrindo Asia dated Jan. 13 which notified the Directorate General of Sea Transportation in Jakarta that Bukit Kapur Reksa had set aside 3,000 tons of RBD palm kernel oil to be transported by MT Stolt Guardian to New Orleans, U.S., on Jan. 27.

But Abdul Aziz Afandi of Samudra Petrindo said here yesterday that the cargo listed in Samudra's letter to the directorate general was misprinted. It should have been RBD coconut oil instead of RBD palm kernel oil.

However, Samudra's letter of notification to its handling agent in Dumai, PT Pelayaran Bahtera Adhiguna, regarding the same shipping instruction also printed RBD palm kernel oil and not RBD coconut oil.

Bukit Kapur Reksa also denied the allegations, saying it was to export 5,000 tons of RBD coconut oil and not RBD palm kernel oil.

A copy of the shipping instructions sent by Bukit Kapur Reksa to The Jakarta Post did stipulate RBD coconut oil as the cargo.

Teddy, a shipping administrator with Bukit Kapur Reksa, told the Post yesterday that the 5,000 tons of RBD coconut oil came from its sister company, PT Karya Prajona Nelayan, in North Sumatra.

But he declined to comment as to why the coconut oil was not exported from the North Sumatran port of Belawan which is bigger and better-equipped than the Dumai port in the central part of Sumatra.

The producers contended though that Bukit Kapur Reksa had simply changed the name of the cargo to mislead local authorities while it was really RBD palm kernel oil that was about to be exported.

"Where could Karya Prajona had collected such a large volume of coconut oil in N. Sumatra at this point in time," one of the producers said.

They suspected Bukit Kapur Reksa could be colluding with local authorities to violate the export ban. (jsk/vin)