Ministry Of Trade Says B50 Policy Will Not Disrupt CPO Supply For Cooking Oil
The Ministry of Trade assesses that the 50 biodiesel (B50) policy does not interfere with the supply of crude palm oil (CPO) for cooking oil so that it is believed that there will be no shortage of staples.
"No, no (influential). We are the largest palm oil producing country in the world and CPO is one of the derivative products," said Director General of Domestic Trade (Dirjen PDN) of the Ministry of Trade Iqbal Shoffan Shofwan quoting Antara.
Iqbal conveyed that there is no need to worry about the availability of CPO in Indonesia. Since the issuance of the Minister of Trade Regulation (Permendag) Number 18 of 2024 concerning Packaged Palm Oil and People's Cooking Oil Governance, said Iqbal, Indonesia has never experienced a shortage of cooking oil.
Furthermore, Iqbal also said that cooking oil has its own layers, premium cooking oil, second brand or less well-known brand cooking oil, and MinyaKita.
"So, if we don't have to worry about the availability of CPO in Indonesia," said Iqbal.
The government plans to implement mandatory B50 or diesel fuel with a mixture of 50 percent of vegetable ingredients (fatty acid methyl ester/FAME) sourced from CPO to stop diesel imports starting in 2026.
Regarding the increasing need for CPO, Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Andi Amran Sulaiman revealed plans to cut CPO exports to 5.3 million tons to support the mandatory implementation of biodiesel B50 fuel which is planned to run in 2026.
Amran, during a press conference after a limited meeting with President Prabowo Subianto at the Presidential Office of the Presidential Palace of the Republic of Indonesia, Thursday (9/10), explained that the mandatory B50 program needed CPO of up to 5.3 million tons.
He said Indonesia's CPO production reached 46 million tons per year. Of that amount, an average of 20 million tons are processed domestically, and 26 million tons of CPO are exported abroad.