Indonesia is ending its ban on palm oil exports about a month after it was announced, in a move that should bring some relief for cooking oil prices.
Indonesia, a leading exporter of palm oil, imposed a ban on exports in late April, saying it had to protect consumers from rising prices. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent prices of edible oils skyrocketing, because the two nations account for the majority of commercial sunflower production. Sunflower oil supplies have dried up, and other oils have seen price hikes in a cascading effect.
Pressure to rescind the ban came from farmers upset over plunging prices for their palm fruit, and because the country’s storage capacity for palm oil was limited.
“Consumers can breathe a sigh of relief now,” a commodities trader told Bloomberg. Soybean oil prices dropped 1.6% after the announcement.
