Malaysia and the European Union share a long history and strong trade ties. The European Union is Malaysia’s third-largest trading partner and is its largest source of foreign direct investment, and Malaysia is a major exporter of raw materials to the European Union. But politics over palm oil threaten their relationship. Malaysia is the world’s…
KUALA LUMPUR: Synthetic palm oil does not contain vitamins A and E compared to natural palm oil rich with these nutritional values, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) said in a statement yesterday. Its director-general Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir said the raw materials used to produce synthetic palm oil may not be from original…
Indonesia’s palm oil exports to China have plummeted by half in volume amid global uncertainties, an industry source has said. The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) said in a statement on Tuesday that China’s export volume fell by 381,000 tons or 57 percent. This contributed to the sharp drop in the country’s total palm…
Jakarta (ANTARA) – Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar stressed that Indonesia could not accept the European Union (EU) energy policy which blamed biofuel from palm oil as a cause of deforestation, describing it as discriminatory. Mahendra considered the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) and the Derivative Act released by the EU as a major challenge…
Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima are to visit Indonesia from March 10 to 13 at the invitation of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. In the lead-up to the state visit, the Dutch Foreign Ministry recently invited The Jakarta Post’s Yuliasri Perdani and several other Indonesian journalists to the Netherlands to talk with Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok about the…
With new regulatory changes now taking place on the basis of the EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (RED) II of 2018, Indonesia and Malaysia are trying to come to terms with the implications for their global palm oil market strategy and domestic production. They are mobilising intra-regional support from ASEAN and its members and even considering…
JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia’s chief economic minister, Airlangga Hartarto, said on Wednesday the government plans to increase palm oil export levies to support expansion of its palm biodiesel program. “The increase is currently being calculated, whether it will be a flat increase or progressive,” Hartarto told reporters. Further details on the plan are still being…
JAKARTA, Feb 25 (Reuters) – Indonesia state energy company PT Pertamina asked parliament to cap prices for some crude palm oil (CPO), as the company develops refineries to make fuel from the vegetable oil. Pertamina needs a guarantee on the supply and price of palm oil as feed stock for at least three refineries it…
Indonesia’s palm oil exports to China have declined due to a drop in demand for the vegetable oil as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, farming ministry officials said. Indonesia has so far exported 84,000 tonnes of palm oil this month, compared with 371,000 tonnes for the full month of February last year, data from…
MANCHESTER: The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) opines that any discouraging developments regarding palm oil could be resolved through a clear perspective and progressive and proportional explanation on the commodity value chain by both major palm oil buyers and major producers. Its head of operations (Europe) Dr Inke van der Sluijs said there should…
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Stef Blok said the Netherlands is not backing the European Union biofuel ban that targets Indonesia-produced crude palm oil (CPO). However, Blok asserts that this issue must not be dragged out any further and Indonesia must pursue a sustainable way of producing CPO. The foreign affairs minister…
Bogor, West Java. Plantation company Astra Agro Lestari claims it has developed its own technology to boost the productivity of its oil palm plantations and counter the short supply of modern plantation tools and machineries in Indonesia. The company, a subsidiary of Astra International, has devised at least three applications and tools to manage thousands of its…
JAKARTA, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Indonesia’s palm oil exports to China have declined due to a drop in demand for the vegetable oil as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, farming ministry officials said. Indonesia has so far exported 84,000 tonnes of palm oil this month, compared with 371,000 tonnes for the full month of…
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo, or Jokowi, officially reminded the state-owned energy firm Pertamina and the Oil Palm Plantation Fund Management Agency to avoid being too frugal in developing the country’s catalyst industry as he reminded the energy company only has three out of roughly 50 catalyst producers to accelerate production. “We have the…
BRUSSELS, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Malaysia no longer plans to file a WTO lawsuit against EU restrictions on palm oil-based biofuel and will instead seek to convince European to change its treatment of the crop in a review scheduled for 2021. The European Commission concluded last year that palm oil cultivation results in excessive deforestation…
Jakarta – Smallholding palm oil farmers are no strangers to being made a scapegoat for forest destruction across Indonesia. But deep in the heartland of North Sumatra, the farmers show that with the right skills and knowledge, they can also become frontline guardians of the forest. Among the 26 provinces in Indonesia that produce palm…
Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s top palm oil producers, accused the European Union on Friday of unfairly targeting palm oil under a plan to impose new limits on levels of contaminants considered harmful to health in vegetable oils and fats. The EU intends to set new limits for food contaminants in refined oils and fats,…
Indonesia is likely to use up 8.3 million tonnes of palm oil to meet domestic demand for biodiesel this year, rising concerns there won’t be enough palm oil left to export, according to the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, or Gapki. Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia is likely to use up 8.3 million tonnes of palm oil…
JAKARTA – The world’s top palm oil producer Indonesia exported a record 36.18 million tonnes of palm oil and its products, including biodiesel and oleochemical last year, data from the Indonesia Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) showed on Monday. Exports rose by 4.2% from 34.71 million tonnes in 2018, supported by rising demand from China, the…
JAKARTA, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Indonesia state energy company PT Pertamina has ended a partnership with Italian oil, gas and power firm Eni SpA to process palm oil into fuel, Pertamina’s chief executive told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. Pertamina’s Nicke Widyawati said during the hearing that Eni required internationally recognised certification for palm oil,…
