Indonesian Palm Oil Exports Down but Price Stays Up

The country’s exports of palm oil products in September 2021 dropped to 2.886 million tons after rising to 4.274 million tons in August 2021, according to a press release last month by the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI).  The export value of palm oil products also decreased to US$3.111 billion from US$4.433 billion in August.  

The biggest drop of export volume was seen to India by 683.0 thousand tons to 275.5 thousand tons (-71.3%), to China by 351.8 thousand tons to 487.4 thousand tons (-42.94%), to Netherlands by 169.6 thousand tons to 33.46 thousand tons (-83.5%) and to Malaysia by 157.1 thousand tons to 35.1 thousand tons ( 81.74%).  The export volume to European Union (EU) as a whole dropped by 243.2 thousand tons to 219.6 thousand tons (-52.54%).   Year on year (YoY) as of September 2021, the export to China had been 25.7% higher than that of 2020, to Malaysia had been 52.0% higher, to India 24.4% lower, to Netherlands 0.4% lower and to EU as a whole at 8.1% lower.  

The CPO price (CIF Rotterdam) in September was US$1,235/ton higher than that of August at US$1,226/ton. The price increase was possibly caused by the low stock in early September at only 3.4 million tons, which was 1.1 million tons lower than the stock in August, the statement said.  

The local consumption in September reached 1,475 thousand tons, which was relatively the same with that of August at 1,485 thousand tons.  The consumption for foods dropped to 672 thousand tons from 718 thousand tons in August (-6.4%), for oleochemical relatively stable, while for biodiesel rose to 622 thousand tons from 569 thousand tons in August (+9.3%).