Indonesian palm oil exports to India rose by 51 percent in September after the subcontinent cut down its import tariff for Indonesian palm oil to the same level as for Malaysian.
India absorbed 481,000 tons in September or 51 percent up from the previous month, The Indonesian Association of Palm Oil Producers (GAPKI) said in a press release.
GAPKI also said that the country produced 36 million tons by September 2019 or 13 percent up from the same period in the previous year. Exports accounted for 26 million tons or four percent up from exports in the first nine months of 2018.
Production in September however, was two percent down compared to the previous month, mostly because of water deficit as rains had not yet fallen in many major producing regions such as in North Sumatra, Central Kalimantan, and Jambi.
Domestic consumption in the first nine months of this year stood at 13.1 million tons or 38 percent up from the same period last year, with the largest absorber being the biodiesel sector which took on double the volume compared to the same period last year.
India, GAPKI said, ranked fifth as a destination for Indonesian CPO exports. The largest importer this year, up and including September 2019, remained China with the uptake of 4.3 million tons.
European Union countries absorbed four million tons while Southeast Asian and East Asian countries bought 3.8 million tons or just 0.1 million tons more than what was purchased by African countries in that period.
Indonesian palm oil stocks for September stood at 3.74 million tons, or two percent less than in the previous month.
Palm oil prices ended a long period of low prices and had begun to rise consistently starting from July this year with the approach of winter and the rising cost of other fats and oils. Worries that Indonesia will cut down on its palm oil exports to meet its domestic demand, i.e. biofuels, also helped to push prices up, GAPKI said.