Below is a list with tagged columns and company profiles.

Today's Headlines Crude Palm Oil

  • Crude Palm Oil Industry Update Indonesia: CPO Export & Production

    Palm oil shipments from Indonesia surged 20 percent month-on-month to 2.09 million tons in April 2016 (from 1.74 million tons in the preceding month) according to the latest data from the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki). Fadhil Hasan, Executive Director of Gapki, said Indonesia's palm oil exports are supported by declining edible oil output in several countries. High rainfall in Argentina and Brazil disturbed local soy bean harvests, while the US soybean harvest is weak as well. Furthermore, rapeseed harvests in China, India and the European Union are weak too, hence boosting demand for CPO.

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  • Palm Oil Update Indonesia: CPO Price, Rejuvenation & Moratorium

    The Indonesian Oil Palm Smallholders Association (Apkasindo) requests the government to support the replanting of 2.5 million hectares of oil palm plantations owned by smallholder farmers. Through Minister of Agriculture Regulation No.18/2016 on Guidelines for the Rejuvenation of Oil Palm Plantations, the government is lawfully forced to support smallholder farmers regarding the rejuvenation of oil palm trees. To finance this program, the government takes funds from the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDP-KS). The BPDP-KS collects funds from the export levies for palm oil products.

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  • Sampoerna Agro Best Indonesian Plantation Company in Terms of Revenue

    Only five plantation companies listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) managed to post higher revenue in the first quarter of 2016 (compared to the same quarter one year earlier). Of the 14 plantation companies listed on the IDX, four still need to publish their Q1-2016 corporate earnings (Golden Plantation, Sawit Sumbermas Sarana, Multi Agro Gemilang Plantation, and Tunas Baru Lampung). Sampoerna Agro was the company with the highest revenue growth among Indonesia's listed plantation companies in Q1-2016.

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  • Commodities: Indonesia's Palm Oil Export Tax Back in May 2016

    For the first time since October 2014, Indonesia's palm oil exporters will have to pay an export tax on crude palm oil (CPO) shipments as the government's reference CPO price was set at USD $754.10 per ton in May (the level of USD $750 per ton separates taxable from non-taxable shipments). The Indonesian government announced that it will impose a USD $3 per ton tax on CPO exports in May 2016. Palm oil is the key foreign exchange earner for Indonesia in terms of non-mining export products. The country is the world's largest producer and exporter of CPO, followed by Malaysia.

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  • Indonesian Research Firm: 2016 Palm Oil Output Curbed by Drought & Haze

    Riset Perkebunan Nusantara, a state-owned research firm, expects Indonesia's crude palm oil (CPO) production to drop 4.2 percent (y/y) to 32 million tons in 2016. The firm further adds that in 2015 Indonesia had a total of 11.3 million hectares of palm oil plantation, consisting of plantations owned by the state (750,000 hectares), plantations owned by the private sector (5.97 million hectares) and plantations owned by smallholders (4.58 million hectares). The palm oil sector is one of Indonesia's key foreign exchange earners. Indonesia is the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, followed by Malaysia.

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  • Indonesia & Malaysia Set Criteria for the Council of Palm Oil Producer Countries

    Nine or ten crude palm oil (CPO) producers want to join the Council of Palm Oil Producer Countries (CPOPC), the intergovernmental palm oil council set up by the world's two largest CPO producers and exporters: Indonesia and Malaysia. These two initiators signed an agreement in November 2015 for the establishment of the CPOPC - headquartered in Jakarta - that aims to control the global CPO supply, stabilize palm oil prices, promote sustainable practices in the palm oil industry, and enhance the welfare of oil palm smallholders; more or less the role that OPEC has in the crude oil industry.

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  • France Step Closer to Higher Palm Oil Import Tax, Indonesia Objects

    The National Assembly of France agreed to impose an additional tax on imports of crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivatives used for the production of food products. An additional tax of 90 euro per ton (on top of the existing 104 euro per ton import tariff) is expected to be implemented in 2017. This tax increase is part of France's wider biodiversity bill that aims to reduce deforestation and protects French citizens from the negative health effects from consuming palm oil. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's largest CPO producers have objected strongly to this higher tax.

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  • Indonesia Asks France to Scrap Additional Tax on Palm Oil Imports

    Efforts made by the Indonesian government to convince France not to impose a progressive tax on imports of crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivatives have had some success. According to the latest stories, French authorities agree to cut the proposed additional import tax from 300 euro to 90 euro per ton. Earlier, on 21 January 2016, France approved a bill that gives birth to a progressive import tax on CPO and derivatives starting at an additional 300 euro per ton in 2017 and then increasing to 700 euro per ton in 2019, and to 900 euro per ton in 2020. Currently, France's import tax on CPO is just above 100 euro per ton.

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  • Crude Palm Oil Industry Indonesia: CPO Production Down, Price Up?

    Fadhil Hasan, Executive Director of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (Gapki), expects Indonesia's crude palm oil (CPO) production to decline to around 32.1 million tons in 2016 from 32.5 million tons in the preceding year. This decline, which would be the first (full calendar year) drop in Indonesia's palm oil output since 1998, is caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. El Nino causes dry weather in Southeast Asia hence curtailing palm oil fruit yields. CPO production in Malaysia, the world's second-largest CPO producer and exporter (after Indonesia), has also been affected.

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  • Palm Oil Industry Indonesia: CPO Prices Rise on El Nino Drought

    The crude palm oil (CPO) price continues to rise supported by the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon. El Nino causes a dry spell in Southeast Asia, home to the world's largest palm oil plantations. As a result, CPO inventories in Malaysia may have declined to 2.11 million tons, an 11-month low in February 2016. Meanwhile, Singapore-based agribusiness trader Olam International Ltd said CPO stocks will decline to the range of 1.5 - 2.0 million tons in the second quarter of 2016. Obstacles to higher CPO prices are Malaysia's strengthening ringgit (which curtails demand for Malaysian palm oil) and attractive prices of soybean oil.

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Latest Columns Crude Palm Oil

  • Indonesia Benefits from Near-Record High Palm Oil Price, But India’s Demand May Drop

    Although there is plenty of opposition to – and criticism on – Indonesia for allowing crude palm oil (or CPO) to play a big role in the domestic economy (Indonesia being the world’s largest producer and exporter of CPO), the country is currently feeling the windfall from soaring CPO prices. And, it is contributing to Indonesia’s recovery from the severe – and still ongoing – novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

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  • What Are the Challenges Faced by the Expanded B20 Biodiesel Program?

    On 1 September 2018 the expanded B20 biodiesel program was launched. It means that the government of Indonesia requires all diesel fuel that is used within the country to contain biodiesel (with a 20 percent amount of bio-content, typically fatty acid methyl ester [FAME] that is derived from palm oil). This program will boost domestic palm oil consumption (which is important because palm oil exports are currently not doing too great amid low prices and anti-palm oil campaigns in various western countries), but more importantly the program aims to slash imports of fuel, hence encouraging a narrower current account deficit and a stronger rupiah. Meanwhile, the program also aims at reducing carbon emissions.

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  • Palm Oil Industry Indonesia: CPO Price Under Pressure in Early March

    Several negative sentiments are putting pressure on the crude palm oil (CPO) price in the first week of March 2018. These sentiments are expected to continue pushing downward pressure on the CPO price in the remainder of this week. On Monday (05/03) the CPO price on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange (May 2018 shipments) fell 0.28 percent to 2,467 ringgit per metric ton. Compared to one week earlier, the price has now declined 2.91 percent.

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  • Indonesia Launched Palm Oil Rejuvenation Scheme for Smallholders

    The Indonesian government is eager to boost domestic crude palm oil (CPO) production, but not at the expense of tropical forest (by adding new oil palm plantations). Instead, a new government program aims to replant 20,000 hectares of smallholder palm oil plantations in 2017 under the condition that farmers meet the requirements that are stipulated by Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification.

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  • Widodo Wants Moratorium on New Palm Oil Concessions in Indonesia

    Indonesian President Joko Widodo has ordered the nation's Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya to issue a moratorium on new palm oil concessions in a number of provinces. Although Widodo wants Indonesia - the world's top producer and exporter of crude palm oil (CPO) - to raise CPO output, he believes this increase can be achieved by increasing productivity of existing palm oil plantations, not by adding new plantations. Indonesia is often criticized by environmentalist groups for its forestry policies and poor law enforcement (which led to the severe haze that spread through Southeast Asia last year).

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  • Analysis Indonesian Companies: Indofood Sukses Makmur

    Indofood Sukses Makmur, Indonesia's leading company in the food processing sector offering a wide variety of food solutions for consumers, is expected to post significantly higher net profit and net sales in the foreseeable future on lower prices of its raw materials, the stable rupiah exchange rate, and the rising price of crude palm oil (CPO). Indofood Sukses Makmur is engaged in five complementary business segments: (1) consumer branded products, (2) flour milling, (3) agribusiness, (4) distribution, and (5) the cultivation and processing of vegetables.

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  • Indonesia's February Crude Palm Oil Exports Better than Expected

    Indonesia's crude palm oil (CPO) exports rose 9 percent month-on-month (m/m) to 2.29 million tons in February 2016 on the back of growing CPO demand in Africa, Bangladesh, India and the European Union. Indonesia's February CPO export volume was better than estimated previously. Analysts had expected a figure below 2 million tons. Combined, Indonesia's palm oil exports reached 4.39 million tons in the first two months of 2016, up 22 percent (y/y) from the 3.59 million tons of CPO that Indonesia exported in the same period one year earlier.

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  • Palm Oil Update: CPO Output Indonesia & Malaysia Down, Price Up

    Crude palm oil (CPO) production in Indonesia and Malaysia is expected to decline due to the impact of the El Nino weather phenomenon (that brought a prolonged dry season to Southeast Asia). CPO production in Malaysia could fall between 1.5 and 2 million tons this year according to Dorab Mistry, Director at Godrej International. Declining output in the world's two leading palm oil producers and exporters implies that palm oil prices should be able to rise further. At the start of this week palm oil futures traded in Kuala Lumpur (June delivery) rose to 2,779 ringgit (approx. USD $695) per ton, the highest level since March 2014.

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