TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Plantation Fund Management Agency for Oil Palm (BPDP Sawit) said that in 2016, Indonesia was the world's biggest palm oil exporter and the global market leader.
BPDP Sawit president director Bayu Khrisnamurthi said that Indonesia exported 25.7 million tons of crude palm oil (CPO), palm kernel oil (PKO), and its derivatives last year. The volume is down by some 2.0 percent from 2015's total.
Despite the slight volume decline, the export value actually increased.
"Oil palm exports value in 2016 reached US$17.8 billion or around Rp 240 trillion, which is up by 8.0 percent from 2015's US$16.5 billion," Bayu said on Tuesday, January 10, 2017.
According to Bayu, the value increase was due to the rising global prices of CPO. In December 2016, CPO price rose to US$789 a ton or up by 41.4 percent from 2015's price. Bayu said the price increase was due to production declines in Indonesia and Malaysia as caused by the El Nino in 2015.
Additionally, Bayu said that the B20 program led the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, with funding support from the palm oil industry, has absorbed 2.7 kiloliters of biodiesel last year, which is higher that the initial target of 2.5 million kiloliters.
Bayu said BPDP has made strategic steps that have an impact on the palm oil sector. "Implementation of B20 biodiesel program is 20 percent biodiesel mix obligation on any diesel fuel oil or diesel sold," Bayu said.
The B20 biodiesel program, which mandates a 20-percent biodiesel mix in diesel fuel, Bayu claimed, has helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 4.49 million tons of CO2e and gave Rp4.4 trillion industrial added value, and provided jobs to 385,000 people (on-farm and off-farm).
"It also saves foreign exchange and lessen our dependence on fossil fuels by US$1.1 billion, or around Rp14.8 trillion," said Bayu.
RICHARD ANDIKA | NN
