Investor Daily, 28 June 2018
Maritime Affairs Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said that Indonesia’s effort to counter the European Union’s ban on CPO bore fruit with the EU recently decided to push back the planned CPO phase-out to 2030. The delay in CPO ban should not be a problem to Indonesia since it only applies to the unsustainably harvested CPO, such as those planted in peatlands, which represents only a small portion of Indonesia’s total palm plantations, he said. He estimated oil palm plantations in peatland at only 1.5 million ha out of the country’s 12 million ha oil palm plantation. Meanwhile, Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) West Kalimantan Chapter Deputy Chairman-cum-Sinar Mas CEO for West Kalimantan Plantations Susanto said that the trade war between the US and China created a big opportunity for West Kalimantan’s CPO export to China. China has imposed a 15% import duty on soybean oil. This will give positive impacts on Indonesia’s CPO export, he said in Pontianak yesterday (June 27).