RI palm oil exports may fall this year
RI palm oil exports may fall this year
KUALA LUMPUR (Agencies): Indonesia's palm oil exports may fall
to 3.9 million tons this year from 4.15 million tons last year,
hampered by lower yields and a stronger rupiah, an industry
official said on Monday.
"I am afraid that we won't be able to reach a target of 4.2
million tons. (Exports) may fall to 3.9 million tons," Derom
Bangun, chairman of the Association of Indonesian Palm Oil
Producers (Gapki) told Reuters on the sidelines of a palm oil
conference.
Bangun said palm oil production in the world's second largest
producer after Malaysia had declined in the first half of the
year. The appreciating rupiah, quoted at 8,450/8,590 to the
dollar at 0652 GMT (01.52 p.m. at Jakarta time) on Monday, was
discouraging exports.
Bangun said Indonesia's palm oil production may fall short of
the target of 7.2 million tons this year because of security
problems and weather problems if the drought causing El Nino
phenomenon returns this year.
Indonesia produced around 6.5 million tons of palm oil in
2000.
"Security in some areas is not perfect yet," said Bangun,
referring to widespread looting of fresh fruit bunches in
plantation areas during the economic crisis.
"Weather experts are talking about El Nino. If that happens,
there will be a shortage in production," he said.
Marked by an abnormal warming of waters in the eastern Pacific
Ocean, El Nino wreaks devastation in weather patterns around the
Pacific Rim and can even affect the number of storms in the
Atlantic hurricane season.
"Production in the first half of the year only constitutes
between 85 to 95 percent of the estimates. Many firms are
oversold," said Bangun.
He said many ships were also waiting at the ports as they
could not leave for their destinations because of a shortage in
crude palm oil. Bangun gave no further details.
Malaysia
Meanwhile, Malaysia planned to lift a 5 percent export duty on
selected semi-processed palm oil products from September 1 in a
bid to reduce excess stock and attract new markets, a top
official said Monday.
The scrapping of the tax was expected to benefit Malaysia's
niche markets for the processed products, such as Bangladesh and
Pakistan, Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik was quoted by
dpa news agency as saying.
Lim, who is in charge of palm oil issues, said the export duty
would be abolished for "Stage 1" and "Stage 2" processed palm oil
products, which are crude palm olein; bleached palm oil and palm
olein; and refined and neutralized palm oil, palm olein and
bleached palm oil.
The duty has been imposed since May 1998. Malaysia exports
between 250,000 tons to 300,000 tons of Stage 1 and Stage 2
processed products a year.
"With the abolishment of the 5 percent tax, we hope new users
may come in, while traditional users will also benefit from
this," Lim told reporters at a palm oil conference in Kuala
Lumpur.
Malaysia is the world's biggest exporter and producer of palm
oil, accounting for half of the world's supply. Last year,
Malaysia produced 10.8 million tons, of which 9 million tons were
sold abroad.
Lim also urged oil palm smallholders and plantations to take
up the government's 200 million ringgit (US$52.6 million)
incentive scheme to destroy 25-year-old oil palm trees and
replant new ones to ensure greater yield in future.