Palm Farmers Enter! The Minister Of Trade Zulhas Has A Precise Way To Increase The Price Of Fresh Fruit Bunches

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade (Minister of Trade) Zulkifli Hasan is said to have had a special strategy in an effort to increase the price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) for palm oil at the farmer level, which now tends to slope.

According to the Trade Minister, several measures have been taken, including the elimination of export levies and an increase in the ratio of the export rights multiplier for the distribution of domestic cooking oil or the domestic market obligation (DMO). He hopes that through this method the export quota for crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivative products will be larger.

"The government continues to be committed to raising the price of oil palm fresh fruit bunches to more than Rp. 2,000 per kilogram at the farmer level," he said in an official statement on Wednesday, August 3.

The Trade Minister added that his party also temporarily removed the export levy (PE) for CPO to zero from the previous US$ 200 per tonne.

"The temporary abolition of PE CPO and its derivative products seems to have provided benefits for farmers and national entrepreneurs," said the bureaucrat who is familiarly called Zulhas.

Furthermore, it was also disclosed that the conversion rate of export rights for the distribution of DMO CPO/cooking oil was 1:9 times from the previous 1:7 times which took effect on August 1, 2022.

Meanwhile, the distribution of DMO is validated by a cross-ministerial/institutional team which is carried out every week and the results are updated into the SINSW system to be claimed as the basis for export approval by producers.

"Through this scheme, the company will be able to export 13.5 times the DMO realization, higher than before," he asserted.

For information, the government through the Decree of the Minister of Trade No. 1117 of 2022 also provides regional multiplier incentives for the distribution of DMO cooking oil to certain regions, especially to eastern Indonesia.

Then, the Ministry of Trade has adjusted the policy for issuing reference prices which are the basis for determining export levies and Export Duties (BK) on exports of CPO commodities and their derivative products from once a month to once every two weeks.

"The government hopes that with the increasing price of FFB at the farmer level, it can continue to maintain the spirit to cultivate crops and gain prosperity through better selling points," concluded the Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan.