Indonesia polices palm oil, UCO exports to tame prices

Indonesian crude palm oil (CPO), refined, bleached and deodorised palm olein and used cooking oil (UCO) suppliers must obtain licences to export their products forsix months starting from 24 January.

The country's trade ministry announced the move on 18 January as part of a pair of measures to stabilise consumer prices for cooking oil in the country.

Exporters will have to prove they have distributed their products domestically to obtain an export licence from the trade ministry. Requirements will include submitting domestic sales contracts and a six-month export plan. But market participants were still awaiting clarification on comprehensive requirements by the end of trading today.

Jakarta also set the retail price of all cooking oil at 14,000 rupiah/litre ($0.97/l) for households and small businesses starting one week after the announcement. The government will subsidise the price cap on 250mn l of cooking oil each month through Rp7.6 trillion from a fund collected through levies on palm exports.

Some southeast Asian UCO suppliers, both Indonesian collectors and international trading firms, were holding offers or postponing booking vessels for cargoes already sold today until details of the new export licence requirements were confirmed.

By Lauren Moffitt