Palm oil exports from Indonesia, the world's biggest exporter of the commodity, are expected to recover in April after shipments in March and February were below last year's monthly average, the Indonesian Commerce Ministry said on Monday.
Exports of products from palm in February they were 1.3 million tons, while those from March 1 to 27 reached around 885,000 tons, below the average of 1.97 million sent from February 2023 to March, ministry data showed.
Bambang Wisnubroto, a ministry official, told a weekly government inflation meeting that the forecast indicates an improvement in April and May. Therefore, this is expected to increase the realization of obligations in the domestic market.
Furthermore, exporters expect global demand for edible oil to improve in May and June, Bambang said.
Indonesia's DMO imposes mandatory sales of exporters for the cheap cooking oil program, distributing quotas based on volume supplied.
However, demand for Indonesian palm oil products fell by 35% in February. According to data from the ministry, more competitive prices for rival vegetable oils, such as soybean and canola, caused this by harming exports.
Source: Dewi Kurniawati and Bernadette Christina | Notícias Agrícolas
