Jakarta (Indonesia Window) – Indonesia’s exports of palm oil and its derivative products in July 2020 increased by 15 percent or 244 million U.S. dollars to 1.86 billion U.S. dollars compared to those in the previous month, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (IPOA) stated.

The export value in July contributed 13.6 percent to the national export value which was recorded at 13.3 billion U.S. dollars, IPOA’s Executive Director Mukti Sardjono said in a statement received by Indonesia here on Monday.

“The increase was supported by the hike in the crude palm oil (CPO) price from the average 602 U.S. dollars cif Rotterdam in June to about 659 U.S. dollars in July,” Mukti noted.

The volume of the exports of palm oil and its derivatives in July also rose by 13 percent from 2.76 million tons to 3.13 million tons, due to the rise in the exports of CPO processed products, he said.

Mukti pointed out that the exports of CPO processed products increased by 352,000 tons (21.8 percent) from 1.6 million tons to 1.96 million tons.

He said the commodity exports to China and the Middle East became the main contributor to the increase in July.

The palm oil export in July to China was up by 188,000 tons (43 percent) to 629,000 tons, and that to the Middle East increased by 107,000 tons (65 percent) to 273,000 tons, Mukti noted.

Despite July’s increase in the export volume, on the year on year (yoy) basis, it decreased in the January-July period 2020.

The total palm oil exports in that period reached 18.63 million tons, or 1.19 million tons lower than those in the same period last year.

“The export of the commodity to China in 2020 totaled 2.63 million tons or only about 61 percent of that in the previous year which amounted to 4.28 million tons (yoy),” Mukti said.

Reporting by Indonesia Window