MEDAN
\nIndonesia is coming under growing international pressure over its ban on palm oil exports amid soaring food prices worldwide.
\nThe ban by the world\u2019s largest palm oil exporter has put pressure on edible oil prices at a time when supplies are already under strain due to poor harvests, the Ukraine war, and labour shortages caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Al Jazeera reported on Monday.
\nPresident Joko \u201cJokowi\u201d Widodo has justified the ban, announced on April 22, as a short-term measure after domestic prices of cooking oil, of which palm oil is a key ingredient, soared more than 50 percent. While Indonesia\u2019s trade partners have yet to officially protest the ban, signs of discontent are emerging in countries, including India and Pakistan.
\nAnalysts say it is likely that governments are making vocal representations to Jakarta behind the scenes. \u201cSo far, no country has officially complained, including from the major importers of Indonesian palm oil such as China, India, and Pakistan,\u201d Ega Kurnia Yazid, an economic analyst at the CSIS in Jakarta, told Al Jazeera. \u201cHowever, signs of an increase in food prices are starting to appear in these countries.\u201d
\nIn Pakistan, there are fears that stocks of palm oil could run out in May, prompting the PVMA last week to call on the Ministry of Industries and Production to \u201ctake up the issue with Indonesia\u201d.
\nPakistan imports 80 percent of its palm oil from Indonesia and 20 percent from Malaysia.
\nLast week, India raised concerns about \u201ctrade barriers\u201d caused in part by the palm oil ban at the World Trade Organization (WTO), according to local media.
\nIn late April, it was reported that almost 300,000 tonnes of edible palm oil destined for India has been trapped in Indonesia as a result of the ban.
\nIndonesia is the second-largest supplier of palm oil to India after neighbouring Malaysia, exporting more than 3 million tonnes of the product to the South Asian country in 2021.
\n\u201cIn general, the impact of the ban on Indonesia\u2019s palm oil exports has begun to be seen from the rising global crude palm oil price [CPO] which has reached an all-time high recently,\u201d said Yazid. \u201cSo far, it seems Malaysia is trying to compensate for Indonesia\u2019s supply in meeting global demand. Even so, of course, relying solely on Malaysia may not be sufficient to meet all global needs.\u201d
\nIndonesia exported 34 million tonnes of palm oil products in 2020, generating more than $15bn in revenue, according to the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MEDAN Indonesia is coming under growing international pressure over its ban on palm oil exports amid soaring food prices worldwide. The ban by the world\u2019s largest palm oil exporter has put pressure on edible oil prices at a time when supplies are already under strain due to poor harvests, the Ukraine war, and labour shortages […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-259612","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-business"},"yoast_head":"\n