Detain HET At IDR 14,000 Per Liter, Zulhas Asks Entrepreneurs To Fill In The DMO Of Cooking Oil

Minister of Trade Zulhas (Photo: dock. Ministry of Trade)

JAKARTA - Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan said that the government maintains the highest retail price (HET) of Minyakita's simple packaged cooking oil of Rp. 14,000 per liter during the period of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr 2024.

For your information, the HET of simple packaged cooking oil or Oilita is priced at Rp. 14,000 per liter. Meanwhile, bulk cooking oil is Rp. 15,500 per kilogram (kg). This rule is included in Circular Letter (SE) Number 03 of 2023 concerning Guidelines for Sales of People's Cooking Oil issued by the Directorate General of Domestic Trade of the Ministry of Trade.

"In order to ensure the stabilization of cooking oil for the people of Oilita, bulk cooking oil, (the government) maintains HET until at least Eid Al-Fitr ends," he said in a working meeting with Commission VI of the DPR, at the DPR Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Wednesday, March 13.

Zulhas, as Zulkifli Hasan is familiarly called, admitted that the price of bulk cooking oil in the market continues to increase. According to him, the increase is something that cannot be avoided.

Furthermore, Zulhas also said that the increase in bulk cooking oil prices could not be separated from the decline in the realization of Domestic Market Obligation or DMO from producers.

Based on data from the Ministry of Trade, the realization of DMO until the end of February 2024 was 123,536 tons. This achievement only states that 41.2 percent of the target of meeting 300,000 tons per month.

"The increase in bulk cooking oil cannot be avoided due to the decline in the realization of the distribution of bulk cooking oil DMOs," he said.

Zulhas explained that the decline in DMO was also due to the sluggish export of crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivative products.

"This is the impact of the sluggish exports of CPO and its derivative products. So that the DMOs carried out by producers have decreased slightly compared to last month," he explained.

Even so, Zulhas asked oil producers to continue to meet the DMO according to the allocation of each company. The goal is to maintain the stability of cooking oil prices.

"Business actors are asked to try to fulfill the DMO according to the allocation of each company. The target of the Eid al-Fitr DMO remains 300,000 tons. The Ministry of Trade and related ministries/agencies will carry out integrated supervision," he explained.