Indonesia Should Not Fear Losing EU’s Palm Oil Market: Gapki

Jakarta. World’s largest palm oil producer Indonesia should not fear losing the European Union or EU, as the Southeast Asian country still has a lot of other markets to export its top commodity to, according to the Indonesian Palm Oil Association or Gapki.
“Palm oil industry will continue to grow. The commodity is a basic need for food manufacturing and bioenergy. So Indonesia does not need to fear losing the EU because there are other markets out there that will just keep growing,” Gapki chairman Joko Supriyono told reporters in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“What’s more important is how we can fight for our palm oil on the global trade, regardless of the market,” Joko said.
Gapki data show Indonesia exported 3.75 million tons of palm oil products to the EU-27 in the first 11 months of 2022. This marked a 14 percent decline from the same period in 2021. The Gapki export data encompassed crude palm oil (CPO), biodiesel, and oleochemicals, as well as refined, bleached, and deodorized palm olein (RBD).
“I doubt the EU actually wants to ban palm oil. Remember how the past export ban really baffled them that they came after the president,” Joko said.
And while the EU continues to remain discriminatory against Indonesian palm oil, exports to the US are on the rise. The US now climbed two spots to be the third-largest importer of Indonesian palm oil last year.
Indonesia shipped over 2 million tons of palm oil products to the US from Jan. to Nov. 2022, up by 15 percent from last year’s figures of 1.792 million tons. Gapki attributed the rising palm oil export to, among others, biodiesel use in a number of US states.
“We used to only export 400,000 tons in the past. The trans fats issue, coupled with biodiesel use, is driving up our export to the US. So palm oil exports for food and biodiesel to the US are rising,” Joko said.
Another highly potential market for Indonesia is Pakistan. Indonesia’s palm oil exports to Pakistan amounted to 2.357 million tons in the first 11 months of 2022, although this was a slight decline from the 2.381 million tons recorded over the same period in 2021.
“The Silk Road connects China with Pakistan, and from there, we can get to Europe. So we can set up some sort of hub in Pakistan. Let’s not forget that Central Asia is also a huge market that we can penetrate into [from Pakistan],” Sahat M Sinaga, the deputy chair at The Indonesian Palm Oil Board, also told the press.
Indonesia’s overall palm oil export amounted to 30.8 million tons in 2022, marking an 8.5 percent decline from the previous year. China accounted for a large portion of Indonesia’s palm oil exports. China imported 5.866 million tons of Indonesian palm oil products in Jan-Nov 2022.
Gapki reported that overall palm oil export had been on the decline for the past four years.

Malaysia, Indonesia Need to be In Sync
The EU's discriminatory deforestation law is making the world’s top palm oil-producing nations Indonesia and Malaysia restless. The European bloc has agreed on a law that would ban the import of products linked to deforestation.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his Malaysian counterpart Anwar Ibrahim recently agreed to fight against the EU’s discrimination against palm oil. Not long after Anwar’s Jakarta visit, Malaysia announced that it was mulling stopping its palm oil export to the EU.
When asked by the press to comment on Malaysia’s ban plan, the Gapki chairman said, “Indonesia and Malaysia need to be truly in sync when facing the EU.”
According to Joko, the close neighbors had often been out of sync in their ongoing feud against the EU.
“For instance, Malaysia and Indonesia initially agreed to have the same standard on 3- monochloropropanediol [3-MCPD]. But in the end, Malaysia ended up following the EU’s standard,” Joko said.
The 3-MCPD are contaminants found in edible oils and food made from such oils.
A few years ago, the EU proposed that it would set 2.5 ppm as the acceptable safety limit for 3-MCPD consumption. Indonesia thought that this was unfair because the 3-MCPD content on other vegetable oils was only capped at 1.25 ppm. The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) —of which Malaysia and Indonesia are members— at the time pushed for one single 2.5 ppm limit to apply to all vegetable oils.
Read More:
Tags: Keywords:Related Articles
Dharma Satya Sets Rp800b Capex for Palm Oil Replanting, Renewable Energy
DSNG sets Rp800b 2025 capex for palm oil replanting, green energy, and upgrade. Company books Rp367b Q1 profit on strong CPO prices.Indonesia Denies EU’s Palm Oil Law Is Reason Why Trade Pact Takes Years
Finding a common ground with 27 European countries in the trade talks is not as simple, minister Airlangga says.Indonesian Palm Oil Export Value Jumps 20 Pct, But Volume Drops
Indonesia exported crude palm oil (CPO) and its derivatives worth a total of $7.05 billion in January-April 2025.EU Readies ‘Countermeasures’ If Tariff Deal with US Falls Apart
The EU prepares countermeasures after Trump slaps 50% steel tariffs, threatening to derail ongoing trade talks with Brussels.Friedrich Merz Stresses European Unity and Defense During First Trip As German Chancellor to Paris
Merz and Macron vowed to strengthen the continent's security and increase defense spending.Indonesia Aims to Seal EU Trade Deal by Mid-2025 After Years of Talks
Indonesia aims to finalize its long-delayed CEPA trade pact with the EU by mid-2025, eyeing tariff cuts and equal market access benefits.EU Admits to Rushing Palm Oil Deforestation Law, Simplification Underway
Aside from a postponement, work is underway to simplify EU's anti-deforestation regulation which will affect Indonesia's palm oil exports.‘We Might Lose Our Customers’: Gov’t Told to Cut Palm Oil Export Duty as US Tariff Looms
Fellow palm oil producer Malaysia not only has lower export costs, but it gets a 24 percent US tariff rate -- far below than Indonesia's.Indonesia's Palm Oil Export Soars 58 Pct to $2.27 Billion
Indonesia's palm oil exports also jumped 89.54 percent year-on-year in February, according to BPS.Indonesia Approves Congo's Palm Oil Council CPOPC Membership
Indonesia says Congo's membership to be able to help the group address trade barriers related to palm oil.The Latest
China Adds Indonesia to 10-Day Visa-Free Transit Program
The visa-free transit expansion aims to enhance cooperation with ASEAN while boosting trade, investment, and cultural exchange.Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner with More Than 240 Aboard Crashes After Takeoff
Air India flight 171 crashed into a residential area called Meghani Nagar five minutes after taking off at 1:38 p.m. local time.Sri Mulyani: Government Can Only Fund 40% of $625B Infrastructure Needs
“This gap will require private sector participation, strong partnerships, and innovative financing strategies,” she said.Achmad Ardianto Appointed as New President Director of Antam
Achmad brings with him an extensive background in state-owned enterprises and human capital leadership.Prabowo to Fly to Singapore for Leaders’ Retreat with Wong Next Week
Investments are set to become a major talking point when Prabowo meets Singapore's Lawrence Wong on Monday.Most Popular
