InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – The Government of Indonesia is now facing the big challenges to manage palm oil production. This is about to confirm that its supply would be enough for energy and food needs.
Chairman of Rumah Sawit Indonesia (RSI), Kacuk Sumarto said that it would be significant to adjust every policy to get the right balance.
In 2023, palm oil production reached about 52,53 million tons but the numbers might not be enough for energy and food needs in the same time. He thought, food and energy integration would need wise policies. “We have to carefully calculate how much would be allocated for energy and food. This is about not to raise issue about rareness in one of the two sectors,” he said.
Palm oil biodiesel program (50/50) that the government has planned, is now becoming the topic. Kacuk thought, the increasing needs for energy sector would minimize palm oil production allocation for food sectors and eventually would make the food sectors more expensive. “The increasing needs for energy sector would minimize the allocation for food sectors. This could increase the price,” he said when becoming a speaker in a webinar InfoSAWIT joined, Sunday (14/7/2024).
He also reminded that palm oil exports would have something to do with the policy/program. The more palm oil used for biodiesel program, the less would be exported. The levy would be decreasing. “Levy from palm oil exports that Palm Oil Plantation Funa Management Agency (PFMA) manages would be less if the exports decrease,” Kacuk said.
The decreasing levy would deliver impacts for many sectors that depend on the fund, such as, human resource development, infrastructures. “Biodiesel subsidy would need lots of numbers. If the levy got decreased, the fund for others, such as, human resource development and infrastructures, would be too,” he said.
He also reminded it would need balancing policy between domestic and international scale needs. For crude palm oil could be more expensive in international scale, the local producer should also confirm that the domestic supply would remain stable and it is not too expensive. “The government has to re-calculate the subsidy needed. This is about to make sure everything would be enough from every published policy,” he said.
In facing the challenges, RSI would be ready to cooperate with the government to formulate sustainable policies for palm oil industries in Indonesia. “We are ready to be the partner of the government to calculate and formulate every policy about biodiesel and subsidy needed,” Kacuk said. (T2)
