Indonesia's CPO Export to Pakistan Start to Rise

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Since Indonesia signed a preferential trade agreement abolishing discriminative tariffs on its crude palm oil (CPO) exports with Pakistan, its exports of the commodity to the South Asian country have started to rise.

"Pakistan has equalized the tariff for Malaysian and Indonesian CPO. Indonesia’s exports have increased from 80,000 tons to 170,000 tons a month," the chief of the marketing division of the Association of Indonesian Palm Oil Exporters (GAPKI), Susanto, said here on Tuesday.

He believed that Indonesia’s CPO exports to that country would gradually recover to reach around one million or more tons a year. "This year CPO exports will not yet be that high as the tariff adjustment was only agreed upon with Pakistan last September while exports started to rise only in October and November."

He predicted exports this year would reach around 300,000 tons. "They are predicted to reach one million tons in 2012." Total Indonesia’s exports of CPO across the world meanwhile will still follow domestic production trends.

"If the trend is up certainly supplies for sales abroad would also increase," he said. Susanto predicted Indonesia’s CPO production this year would reach round 23.5 million tons or up a little from 22 million tons in 2010.

The volume of the country’s CPO exports to various countries in 2010 meanwhile reached 15.6 million tons, higher than 15.5 million tons recorded in the previous year. He predicted total Indonesia’s CPO exports this year would reach between 17 million and 18 million tons.