The deputy chairman of the Indonesia Palm Oil Council said here on Saturday "the price is calculated upon market demand which remains high with no hikes recorded in the first quarter of 2011."
The average price of CPO last year was US$480 per metric ton.
He said Indonesia is expected to produce 22.5 to 22.8 million metric tons of CPO this year which is up a bit from last year`s production recorded at 21.3 million metric tons.
Besides high demand the average of CPO for 2011 is projected to be higher than last year`s due to the selling price of raw palm oil which relatively remains expensive like other vegetable oils such as soybean and canola oils.
The small production of soybean and canola would make the price of the two vegetable oils high so that consumers or industries would prefer to buy CPO which is cheaper.
He said "the government must give bigger stimulus to national palm oil businessmen to boost production and exports."
He said the government also had to omit or minimally reduce CPO tax exports unlike what it has done now.
He said he also urged the government to cut various costs that had burdened companies so that the price would be more competitive and their desire to produce CPO would be stronger.
"The government must be in the front line to fight environmental issues that remain," he said.
The treasurer of the Association of Indonesia Palm Oil Businessmen (GAPKI) of the North Sumatra chapter, Laksamana Adiyaksa, said the CPO export price in Rotterdam until June seemed to be stable at around US$1,160 per metric ton.
"The price is seen at the Rotterdam Bourse on May 19 where the price of May and June deliveries were closed at US$1,169 per metric ton," he said.
The tender price at the joint marketing office of PTPN (state-owned plantations companies) on the same date was closed at Rp8,903 per kilogram.
Laksamana admitted in March the value of national foreign exchange income from CPO especially North Sumatra dropped compared to that of February due to a declining selling price.
Although the price in March was down the value of exports of animal and vegetable oils of the region in the first quarter of 2011 was still growing high compared to that of the same period in 2010.
According to the National Statistic Agency (BPS) the value of exports of fat products and animal and vegetable oils of the region in the first quarter of 2011 grew 48.39 percent to US$842.639 million.
Most of the exports went to China, India and Europe especially the Netherlands.
(SYS/H-YH)
Editor: Suryanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
