24/04/2009 (TEMPO Interactive), Jakarta - The government has set the standard price for local palm oil exports. The price is expected to become the standard for international palm oil trade. Deputy coordinating minister for the economy, Bayu Krisnamurthi said international palm oil trade had until now been using the commodity market price in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as its standard.

According to Bayu, palm oil export volume in the European Union only tops 1,5 million tons, while Indonesia can achieve 10 times that volume. Moreover, Indonesia still supplies a controlling 90 percent of the world’s palm oil demand. “As the biggest producing country, we should set the system,” he said yesterday. By having its own standard price, the local market will not be affected by international price fluctuations.

This standard price can begin to be implemented this year. Some businessmen, Bayu said, have used the standard export price from Belawan or Dumai ports. The average price from the two ports will be combined with the auction price of Perkebunan Nusantara and other big traders. “This can be used as a basis to calculate the standard price,” Bayu said.