Trade Minister Reacts to Farmers Selling Palm Oil FFB to Malaysia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan responded to viral news on social media that farmers selling fresh fruit bunches of palm oil to Malaysia. He said this condition was common because their price in Malaysia is much higher than in Indonesia.

“That's common. There (in Malaysia) it is sold at Rp4,500 (per kilogram), while here it’s only Rp1,000 (per kilogram). This is because the previous policy didn't have the right impact on it,” said Zulkifli at the Trade Ministry building in Central Jakarta, Monday, July 4, 2022.

He assessed that this situation occurred because of the government’s ban on the export of crude palm oil or CPO. Albeit the CPO export faucet has been opened, the absorption of oil palm fresh fruit bunches has not been optimized and causing the prices at the farmer level to fall.

To overcome the low price of fresh fruit bunches of oil palm, Zulkifli said the Trade Ministry would expedite exports. He acknowledged that CPO exports were hampered because many ships were not available to transport the commodities. This was because the export ban forced the ships to sign new contracts with other companies.

Farmers reportedly sell palm oil FFB to Malaysia through the borders of North Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan. Farmers in West Kalimantan generally sell the products by land, while farmers in North Kalimantan by sea.

RIANI SANUSI PUTRI

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