Indonesia's ban on palm oil exports is unlikely to last more than a month as Jakarta has limited infrastructure to store the surplus oil and the country faces mounting pressure from buyers to resume shipments, industry officials said.
Indonesia’s ban on palm oil exports is unlikely to last more than a month as Jakarta has limited infrastructure to store the surplus oil and the country faces mounting pressure from buyers to resume shipments, industry officials said. The world’s top palm oil exporter announced plans to ban exports on Friday, in a shock move .
Buyers were hoping a bumper sunflower crop from top exporter Ukraine would ease the tightness, but supplies from Kyiv have stopped because of what Russia calls its "special operation" in the country. This had prompted importers to bank on palm oil being able to plug the supply gap until Indonesia's shock ban delivered a "double whammy" to buyers, said Atul Chaturvedi, president of trade body the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA).
The move by the world's biggest palm oil producer to ban exports from Thursday will lift prices of all major edible oils including palm oil, soyoil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil, industry watchers predict.
Vegetable oil prices have already risen more than 50% in the past six months, as factors ranging from labor shortages in Malaysia to droughts in Argentina and Canada have curtailed supplies.