International crude palm oil (CPO) prices have been rising since the beginning of 2022.
Quoting records from the Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI), the average price of CPO CIF Rotterdam in January 2022 was US$1,358 per ton. Then, in February 2022, the price increased to US$1,522 per ton.
Despite the price increase, Indonesian palm oil exports decreased during this period.
According to GAPKI data, the total volume of Indonesian palm oil exports in February 2022 was 2.09 million tons. This figure is down 3.7% from the January 2022 export volume of 2.17 million tons.
The export value also fell by 0.6%, from US$2,816 million in January 2022 to US$2,799 million in February 2022.
Destination Countries for Palm Oil Exports in February 2022
Based on GAPKI data, palm oil export volumes decreased most significantly for Africa and the Philippines.
Exports to Africa decreased by 54% month-on-month to 134,700 tons in February 2022. Exports to the Philippines fell by 55% to 28,700 tons during the same period.
Exports to Russia also fell by 7.8% to 64,200 tons, while exports to Ukraine were fluctuating.
In 2021, the average monthly volume of palm oil exports to Ukraine reached 25,000 tons. However, in January 2022, this figure dropped drastically to 256 tons, then increased again in February 2022 to 15,280 tons.
There were also several other countries where export demand surged.
Palm oil exports to the Netherlands increased by 42.21% month-on-month to 184,410 tons in February 2022. This was followed by exports to China, which increased by 21.7% to 240,300 tons.
Exports to Bangladesh increased by 43.9% to 126,000 tons, and to Malaysia by 27.2% to 229,500 tons.
In terms of product type, Indonesian palm oil exports in February 2022 consisted of 27,000 tons of CPO and 1.68 million tons of processed CPO.
Exports of crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) amounted to 4,000 tons, processed CPKO 75,000 tons, biodiesel 7,000 tons, and oleochemicals 298,000 tons.
(See Also: 10 Largest Indonesian Food and Plantation Exports, Palm Oil Tops the List)