We expect that in the next one or two weeks, the price will increase to Rp2,500.Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said that an audit of Indonesian palm oil companies will be conducted soon by the Development and Finance Comptroller (BPKP).
The attempt will be carried out to tighten supervision regarding cooking oil governance and policy.
“Today, I will sign it (the audit order)," the coordinating minister informed after the inauguration of PT Nestle Indonesia's investment project in Karawang district, West Java province, on Tuesday.
The volatility in the price and supply of cooking oil has started to see gradual improvement, he noted.
Related news: Government seeks middle ground to solve cooking oil problem: Minister
However, he emphasized that he will still conduct several working visits to monitor the distribution of cooking oil in various regions, such as Semarang city (Central Java province) and Surabaya city (East Java province).
A number of distribution channels are still disturbed since the cooking oil supply shortage has occurred for quite long, he noted.
“I will be traveling a lot," he added.
Pandjaitan said that once the ban on the export of crude palm oil (CPO) and cooking oil raw materials is revoked, the price of palm oil fresh fruit bunches (FFB) bought from farmers is expected to improve.
Related news: Cooking oil exports to resume from May 23: Jokowi
"The supply is getting better, I hope that the (FFB) price at the farmers’ level will increase to more than Rp2,500 (US$0.17) per kilogram (kg). Currently, it is still Rp1,500 (US$0.1). We expect that in the next one or two weeks, the price will increase to Rp2,500,” he added.
BPKP will supervise the cooking oil policy formulation, such as determining the demand for cooking oil, the need for CPO for manufacturers, as well as the calculation of the cooking oil price at the distributor to retailer levels.
The agency will also oversee the implementation of government policies to meet domestic demand for cooking oil and maintain palm oil prices at the farmer level through Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) and Domestic Price Obligation (DPO) policies.
In addition, BPKP will conduct specific audits in the upstream sector and monitor the CPO and cooking oil governance from the upstream to downstream sectors.
Related news: President, Saudi Minister discuss Hajj pilgrimage implementation
Related news: Indonesia welcomes Saudi's lift on travel ban
Translator: Ade Junida, Uyu Liman
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
