Underwhelming Palm Oil Demands Hurt Exporter in Early 2020

The crude palm oil export is getting weaker at the beginning of the year. The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) recorded that the CPO export was down 35.6 percent from 3.72 tons in December 2019 to 2.39 million tons in January 2020. The executive director of GAPKI, Mukti Sardjono, said that the drop in export was the result of crude oil price fluctuations and the Covid-19 pandemic debilitating export markets.

“The corona pandemic, affecting countries all over the world, has been causing the global economic slowdown, resulting in the drop of cooking oil demands, especially the imported ones,” Mukti explained. Gapki’s data showed that the CPO exports to all countries dropped significantly. The shipping to China was down 57 percent or 381,000 tons, to European Union was down 30 percent or dropped 188,000 tons, to India was down 22 percent or dropped 141,000 tons, and to the United States was down 64 percent or dropped 129,000 tons. In contrast, the CPO exports to Bangladesh increased to 40,000 tons or up 52 percent.