Indonesian palm oil zero export tax until year-end

The Indonesian government's decision to remove the tax on palm oil exports may be in place until the end of this year, a government official said on Wednesday. The government had previously set a 2.5 percent tax rate for palm oil exports in November, down from 7.5 percent for October.
Indonesia's finance minister, however, said on Tuesday that the export tax on crude palm oil had been cut to zero percent, as part of a package of measures intended to shore up confidence in the financial markets.
"We will implement the zero tax from November 1. By our calculation, it will remain zero for November and December due to the price fall," Bayu Krisnamurthi, deputy to the chief economic minister, told reporters.Indonesia, the world's top producer of palm oil - which is used in a wide range of products from soap to biodiesel - is forecast to produce 18.6 million tonnes of crude palm oil this year, compared with 17.2 million tonnes in 2007.