Indonesia will begin lifting its restriction on palm oil exports on Monday

[ASEAN NOW Content Team]

 

Following improvements in the domestic cooking oil supply situation, President Joko Widodo said on Thursday that Indonesia will suspend its palm oil export embargo on Monday, May 23.

Despite the fact that the price of bulk cooking oil has not yet reached the anticipated 14,000 rupiah per litre, the government decided to relax the prohibition because the government is concerned about the wellbeing of 17 million palm oil workers, according to news agency Reuters.

 

Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil exporter, has blocked edible oil shipments since April 28 in an attempt to flood the domestic market with supply in order to control rising cooking oil prices.

 

According to reports, despite strict measures that have shook the edible oil markets and cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue, the price of cooking oil, a staple for Indonesian families, has not decreased, lowering President Joko Widodo's approval rating.

 

The president, known as Jokowi, previously stated that the need for affordable food superseded income considerations, and that the export ban would only be repealed if domestic requirements were addressed.

Palm oil dealers have speculated that the restriction may have been partially removed, especially when storage tanks fill up.

Politics is almost certainly a factor in the timing.
The president's approval rating is at a six-year low, according to a poll conducted this week by pollster Indikator Politik Indonesia, which is mostly due to rising cooking oil prices and inflationary impacts.