NUSA DUA, (Indonesia): Indonesia will continue its domestic market obligation (DMO) for palm oil into 2024 to maintain price stability of cooking oil, Trade Ministry official Isy Karim said on Thursday.

Indonesia, the world’s biggest palm oil producer, imposed the DMO policy last year to rein in soaring prices of cooking oil.

Under the scheme, producers are only allowed to export once they have sold a portion of their products to the domestic market.

The ratio of exports to domestic sales will also be maintained at the current level, where palm oil companies are allowed to export four times the volume they have sold through the DMO mechanism, Isy told an industry conference in Indonesia’s Bali island.

He said there were still occasional shortages of cheap cooking oil in the domestic market and prices in the eastern, more remote parts of Indonesia are above the government-imposed price cap of 14,000 rupiah ($0.8836) per litre.