Crude palm oil price will improve in 2020: Indonesian association

NUSA DUA, Oct 31, 2019, ANTARA. The Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) opined that despite the low prices currently, there will be an improvement in the crude palm oil (CPO) price. Gapki’s head of communication, Taufan Mahdi, remarked here on Thursday that the Indonesian Palm Oil Conference (IPOC) 2019, held from October 31 to November 1, 2019, will deliberate on the outlook of the commodity’s price in 2020, ANTARA reported.

“Various national and international sources will attend the event to share their outlook on the CPO price in 2020,” he revealed.

Vice President Ma’ruf Amin officially opened the conference.

The conference will address various critical issues in the industry and discuss the 2020 price outlook and global trend, with highlights on the supply and demand of the world’s vegetable oils, and exhibition on the palm oil industry from relevant stakeholders.

The annual conference has become a forum for the world palm oil industry.

Indonesian Deputy Foreign Minister Mahendra Siregar, Pietro Paganini from the John Cabot University of Rome, Otto Hospes from Wageningen University, and James Fry from LMC International UK were among speakers at the two-day seminar.

Head of IPOC’s committee, Mona Surya, stated that some 1,500 delegates from 25 countries are expected to attend the conference.

Indonesia is the world’s largest palm oil producer, exporter, and consumer, with production touching 34.7 million tons in August 2019, or 14 percent higher than the corresponding period last year. GAPKI figures also indicated that exports for the same period were recorded at 22.7 million tons, or 3.8 percent higher than in the same period in the previous year.

China and India were the largest importers of Indonesian CPO.

The country consumed 11.7 million tons of CPO in the initial eight months of 2019, or a 44 percent rise than the corresponding period last year.

Palm oil is a major contributor to revenues for the state, but the low global prices and negative campaigns against palm oil and its industry are threatening to reduce exports and revenues.