Indonesia lifts export ban on palm oil after protests
Indonesia plans to lift the export ban on palm oil at the beginning of next week. This was announced by President Joko Widodo in Jakarta on Thursday. Hundreds of farmers had previously protested against the export ban. Exports would resume from Monday, as edible oil is now widely available at cheaper prices, the president said: "Thank God, the supply of edible oil has increased, and more than enough at the national level." Farmers welcomed the decision.
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Indonesia, the world's largest producer of the coveted vegetable commodity, had suspended exports of crude palm oil in late April. The government did so to combat shortages and rising prices at home. President Joko Widodo had announced at the time that when the market in the country had stabilized and cooking oil was once again available at affordable prices, he would reassess the decision. In view of scarce stocks, the price of cooking oil in the Southeast Asian country had risen sharply in recent months. This triggered protests. These threatened to destabilize the government of the island nation of about 270 million people.
On Tuesday, hundreds of palm oil smallholders had rallied in several cities, calling on the government to lift the ban. According to them, companies have stopped buying palm oil, rendering their crops worthless. Referring to the end of the export ban, the secretary general of the Palm Oil Farmers Association, Manusetus Darto, said "our economic wheels can now turn again."
The red-brownish palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the oil palm. There is also palm kernel oil from the seed of the fruit.
Palm oil is used primarily in Asia for frying and roasting.
However, it is also found in numerous foodstuffs, for example in margarine, chocolate, spreads containing cocoa, ice cream, baked goods, pizzas and other ready-made products. Palm oil is also mixed into animal feed and detergents, soaps, cosmetics, candles and lubricants have a high palm oil content. In addition, the raw material is co-used for biofuel. Indonesia has come under criticism for destroying its rainforest to grow palm oil./apa/DP/ngu (dpa)
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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