Indonesia has increased base prices for crude palm oil and RBD palm olein to bring them in line with international market prices, a senior Trade Ministry official said on Monday. Indonesia is the world's second biggest exporter and producer of palm oil after Malaysia.
"The regulation on the new prices was signed by related officials on December 23," the ministry's director general in charge of international trade, Diah Maulida, told reporters.
The base price for crude palm oil (CPO) has been raised to $360 per tonne from $160 previously, while refined, bleached and deodorised (RBD) palm olein which is used for cooking oils, has been raised to $380 per tonne from $190, Maulida said.
The announcement of the higher base prices had been expected after the government last month announced it planned to cut the CPO export tax to 1.5 percent from 3.0 percent. The tax rates are applied to the base prices to calculate the tax amount.