Indonesia's shipment of palm oil and palm kernel oil, excluding lauric oil, olechemical and biodiesel, dropped 13.6 percent to 2.22 million tonnes in April from a year earlier, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) said. Including lauric oil, olechemical and biodiesel, April's exports stood at 2.39 million tonnes.
"This is an unusual phenomenon, because usually prior to Ramadan, palm oil demands from India increases, but not in this year," GAPKI said in a statement, pointing to higher import duty in India. Year-on-year, January-April exports to India declined 24 percent to 1.8 million tonnes from 2.37 million tonnes in 2017.
In January-April, exports to the European Union also declined 16 percent from a year earlier due to a negative campaign and stocks of rapeseed, it said. Indonesia's palm oil stocks stood at 3.97 million tonnes by the end of April, the group added, compared to 3.65 million tonnes by end-March.