RI palm oil sales to China seen up sharply

RI palm oil sales to China seen up sharply

JAKARTA (Reuters): Solid demand and increased quotas will lift Indonesia's palm oil exports to key buyer China by over a third to at least 550,000 tons in 2001, the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) said on Monday.

"Our exports are seen reaching 550,000 tons this year," GAPKI chairman Derom Bangun told Reuters. "It is because China has increased its import quotas and demand from China has been rising steadily."

Exports to China were around 400,000 tons in 2000.

Bangun said Indonesia, the world's second largest producer and exporter of palm oil, would send a palm oil mission to China on October 26 to further promote Indonesian exports.

"We expect our exports to China could rise to 600,000 tons in 2002 if the mission is able to establish good relationships with Chinese importers," Bangun said.

Bangun said China recently raised its 2001 palm oil import quota to 1.6 million tons from 1.2 million last year.

Data from China custom offices showed the country imported 849,758 tons of palm oil in January-July this year, of which 231,709 tons or 27.3 percent were Indonesian oils.

Former trade and industry minister Luhut Pandjaitan said in July Indonesia was seeking to raise its share in China's palm oil market to 45 percent this year from around 30 percent last year.