12/08/2008 (The Hindu), Jakarta - Indonesia's crude palm oil (CPO) products has not been affected so much by the policy of environmental sustainability issued by the European Union (EU), Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said Tuesday.

"We have diversified our CPO market, therefore the products are best selling throughout importing countries such as India, Pakistan, Latin American countries," Pangestu told reporters on Tuesday.

Anyway, Pangestu felt that she needed to check if Indonesian CPO products will be limited for market access further by the EU due to the unfavorably environmental sustainability.

"We hope that there won't be any discrimination for Indonesian products," she added. Pangestu said that coordination was still on-going among ministries of trade, agriculture and foreign affairs.

The decreased export of Indonesian CPO was likely affected by plunged price of oil palm, particularly in the second semester of 2008.

Pangestu was also sure that the export volume of Indonesian CPO was still normal, and unaffected by the global oil price.

The ministry's target for exporting Indonesian CPO ranged between 20-30 percents this year.

"It is higher than two years ago which reached 16 percents only. But all depends on the local consumption too," she said.

Indonesia is the world's biggest CPO producer, with nationwide output expected to grow about 8 percent to 18.4 million tons this year.

CPO is the country's biggest non-oil and gas export commodity, with domestic demand, mostly for producing cooking oil, accounting for less than 30 percent of total output. -Xinhua-