JAKARTA: Palm oil exports from Indonesia, the world’s largest producer, rose 9 per cent in June, gaining for a second straight month, as buyers built up stockpiles ahead of a Muslim festival, according to an industry group.

Shipments climbed to 1.13 million tonnes last month compared with 1.04 million tonnes in May, the Indonesian Palm Oil Association said in an e-mailed statement last Saturday.

Exports to India, the biggest buyer, jumped 45 per cent to 476,030 tonnes in June from a month earlier, said Gapki, as the group is known.

Muslims will start the month-long Ramadan in mid-August, during which communal meals at night increase overall demand for food staples even as followers fast during the day. Hari Raya Puasa marks the end of the holy month.

Bangladesh bought 58,779 tonnes of Indonesian palm oil last month, 91 per cent more than in May, while sales to Pakistan more than doubled to 19,250 tonnes, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Indonesia has reduced the August export tax on crude palm oil to 3 per cent, the Trade Ministry said in a statement posted on its website yesterday.

The base price for crude palm oil exports in August will be US$725 (US$1 = RM3.19) a tonne, the statement said. – Bloomberg

Source: Business Times