Trade Minister Denies Cooking Oil Shortage

Trade Minister Budi Santoso stated that the limited supply of Minyakita in the market does not indicate a shortage of cooking oil. “I went to a modern retailer yesterday, and there was plenty of cooking oil. So, there is no such thing as a cooking oil shortage,” Budi said at JIEXpo Kemayoran, Jakarta, on Thursday, 16 April 2026.

He explained that the supply of Minyakita is more limited compared to commercial cooking oil. This is because the affordable cooking oil is a result of fulfilling domestic market obligations (DMO) by palm oil entrepreneurs.

Budi noted that the market still has second-brand and premium cooking oils as alternatives to Minyakita. “People say cooking oil is expensive, our oil is not there, it’s scarce. But actually, there is plenty. There is second-brand oil,” he said.

Regarding the Minyakita supply, Budi contacted ID Food CEO Ghimoyo about producers’ obligations to distribute at least 35 percent of their oil for Minyakita. He said the Ministry of Trade would facilitate business-to-business (B2B) arrangements if there are plans to increase the Minyakita supply to 65-70 percent. “There are many private distributors operating as well. So, everything runs together without issues,” said the PAN politician.

Although he stated there is no supply shortage, Budi acknowledged that current cooking oil prices have risen due to a plastic packaging crisis.

Data from the Ministry of Trade records that the current price of Minyakita is at Rp15,974 per litre, up 0.03 percent from 15 April 2026. Price increases also occurred for premium cooking oil, now at Rp21,706 per litre, up 0.06 percent daily.

The same applies to the price of bulk cooking oil, now at Rp19,437 per litre, up 0.18 percent from yesterday.