India imports more than 55% of its edible oil needs annually, either in crude or refined form. Of its total imports, 7.2 million tons (MT) of palm oil per year came from Indonesia while 5.4 MT from Malaysia.
President Jokowi took the extreme step of banning the export of CPO and cooking oil raw materials to tame the soaring prices and the shortage of cooking oil in Indonesia, which has not stabilized in the past six months.
Jokowi did not say exactly when the export ban would be lifted but exports would be allowed again once the price of bulk cooking oil returned to normal at around Rp14,000. (at)