Exports of crude palm oil (CPO) reached 25 million tonnes. One of the biggest export destinations is Russia. Data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) shows that in terms of volume, Indonesia's CPO exports in 2022 will decline by 2.4% to 25.01 million tonnes. In contrast, in terms of value, exports increased to US$ 27.77 billion. Its value rose 3.8% from 2021 which was recorded at US$ 26.76 billion. Indonesia's largest CPO market is still held by India followed by China, Pakistan, the United States (US), Bangladesh and Malaysia. The next sequence is Egypt, Russia, Vietnam, and Italy. Of the top 10 main destinations, the largest increase was recorded by India, which was 61.83%, while the largest decrease was Egypt, which was 34.4%. What's interesting is that exports to Russia have reached 607,694 tons with a value of US$ 742.53 million in 2022. In terms of volume, Indonesia's exports only fell 4.04% while the value increased by 12.3%. The decline in export volume to Russia is understandable because its economy collapsed after the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out on February 24, 2022. However, this decline is relatively small when compared to the decline in the Russian economy. The Russian economy has entered a recession after recording contractions for two consecutive quarters in the second and third quarters of 2022.
CPO is the mainstay of Indonesia's exports with a contribution of around 19%. The surge in the price of palm oil has made Indonesia harvest durians. The price of CPO even set a record on April 29 2022 at the level of MYR 7,110 per tonne. However, CPO prices slumped towards the end of 2022. Last week, CPO prices even fell 5.2%. CPO prices started to improve this week. During trading on Wednesday (18/1/2023), the CPO price closed at MYR 3,867 per tonne. The price jumped 1.9%. At the start of today's trading, CPO prices are also still strengthening. During trading Thursday (19/1/2023) at 07:20 WIB, the price of CPO at the start of trading was in the position of MYR 3,884 per tonne. The price strengthened 0.44%. The strengthening of CPO prices was more driven by technicals and the strengthening of other vegetable oil prices. For example, the price of soybean oil rose 2.2%. CPO prices also rose supported by expectations of increased demand from China and the Ramadan period. China is increasingly easing the Covid-19 policy and the policy is expected to increase their economic activity. Meanwhile, Ramadan which will fall in March 2023 will increase demand from Indonesia, Malaysia, to India.
