Indonesia expects palm oil exports to recover in April

PALM oil exports from Indonesia, the world’s biggest exporter of the commodity, are expected to recover in April, after shipments in March and February fell below the monthly average over the past year, the trade ministry said on Monday (Apr 22).

February exports of palm products were 1.3 million tonnes, while those for the Mar 1-to-Mar 27 period were about 885,000 tonnes, below the average of 1.97 million shipped from February 2023 until March, ministry data showed.

“The prediction is that in April and May it will be better, and we hope this would increase domestic market obligation realization,” ministry official Bambang Wisnubroto told a weekly government meeting on inflation that was broadcast online.

Exporters expect global demand for the edible oil to improve in May and June, Bambang said.

Indonesia’s Domestic Market Obligation (DMO), or mandatory sales by exporters to the government’s cheap cooking oil programme, allots exports quotas to companies on the basis of four times the volumes they supply it.

Indonesia’s exports of palm oil products plunged 35 per cent in February, the ministry data showed, as demand faced less competitive pricing than rival vegetable oils, such as soy and canola. REUTERS