Based on data from the Ministry of Trade (Kemendag), cooking oil prices in Indonesia have remained relatively stable from the last quarter of 2022 until a week after Eid al-Fitr 2023.
On April 28, 2023, the national average price of packaged premium cooking oil was Rp20,958 per liter.
This price only decreased by approximately 0.1% compared to the end of the previous month (month-on-month/mom) and has not experienced significant fluctuations since October 2022.
Meanwhile, on April 28, 2023, the national average price of bulk cooking oil increased by 0.6% (mom) to Rp14,710 per liter.
The price of bulk cooking oil has been gradually increasing since October 2022, but the increase has not been drastic as shown in the graph.
Although relatively stable nationally, cooking oil prices are still not uniform across all provinces.
The average price of packaged premium cooking oil at the provincial level ranges from Rp18,000 to Rp24,800 per liter, while the price of bulk cooking oil ranges from Rp12,200 to Rp18,600 per liter.
These figures indicate a significant price disparity between regions.
Here are the 10 provinces with the highest average prices of packaged premium cooking oil on April 28, 2023:
1. North Maluku: Rp24,875 per liter
2. Papua: Rp24,461 per liter
3. West Papua: Rp23,653 per liter
4. West Kalimantan: Rp23,500 per liter
5. Maluku: Rp23,361 per liter
6. East Nusa Tenggara: Rp22,675 per liter
7. North Kalimantan: Rp22,628 per liter
8. North Sulawesi: Rp22,611 per liter
9. South Sumatra: Rp22,356 per liter
10. West Sulawesi: Rp22,000 per liter
Here are the 10 provinces with the highest average prices of bulk cooking oil on April 28, 2023:
1. West Papua: Rp18,639 per liter
2. North Maluku: Rp18,542 per liter
3. Gorontalo: Rp18,300 per liter
4. North Sulawesi: Rp17,044 per liter
5. Papua: Rp15,556 per liter
6. West Nusa Tenggara: Rp15,417 per liter
7. South Sumatra: Rp15,353 per liter
8. West Kalimantan: Rp15,067 per liter
9. Bangka Belitung: Rp15,000 per liter
10. East Nusa Tenggara: Rp15,000 per liter
At the end of April 2023, Kemendag stated that cooking oil prices have the potential to increase due to the influence of El Niño or the warming of sea surface temperatures.
The El Niño phenomenon is predicted to disrupt palm oil harvests, which will then impact the increase in cooking oil prices.
"Gapki (Indonesian Palm Oil Entrepreneurs Association) reports that there will be a slight decrease in palm oil production," said Kasan, Head of the Trade Policy Agency of Kemendag, as reported by Katadata, Thursday (27/4/2023).