Indonesia eyes to become world’s palm oil price setter

Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture has set a target of making the country the world’s largest palm oil producer by 2025, enabling it to influence global prices of the commodity.

Deputy Minister of Agriculture Sudaryono said that Indonesia targets to have the capacity of setting prices as soon as possible, Indonesian news agency Antara reported.

To achieve this, he urged farmers and palm oil entrepreneurs to view Indonesia’s palm oil plantations as high-priority agricultural areas requiring special attention to strengthen the national economy.

Sudaryono also noted that Indonesia already has the technology needed to produce high-quality oil palm seeds.

He said that Indonesia can assess the suitability of a seed for planting before it sprouts, which is important in setting a standard for Indonesian oil palm seeds.

The official said that B50 is Indonesia’s bargaining chip on the international stage. Even if other countries are not interested in the product, the country could use it domestically. The presence of B50 gives Indonesia options to optimally absorb its palm oil outputs.

He added that the Indonesian government has carefully calculated how much palm oil to export and how much to allocate for domestic use to ensure that the goods will make a great contribution to Indonesian economy.