VICE CHAIRMAN OF APINDOSU, USLI SARSI : 0% PE EXTENSION VERY APPROPRIATE
07 September 2022
The government's move through the Steering Committee of the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS) to extend the export levy (PE) rate of zero percent or zero US dollars for all palm oil products until October 31, 2022 was welcomed by the Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) of North Sumatra for Plantation and Agriculture, Usli Sarsi.
“This is a very good step,” he said via cell phone.
He said the current government has made policies that support the palm oil industry, both upstream and downstream.
With the extension of the PE tariff of zero US dollars, he said it could keep the price of crude palm oil (CPO) stable. Likewise, the price of CPO derivative goods such as cooking oil is more stable so that the price of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) can provide benefits to farmers.
The government's reduction of the PE tariff to zero US dollars in August saw cooking oil prices slowly fall and FFB prices slowly rise again. Business players in the palm oil sector are starting to feel the benefits.
“On various occasions I have said that the palm oil industry is an economic strength of Indonesia that is not owned by other countries,” he said.
Indonesia could become the world's largest producer of renewable energy sources.
A few decades ago, countries that had many petroleum wells became rich countries because they had abundant energy sources. Due to continuous exploration and extraction, many petroleum wells eventually dried up. Meanwhile, petroleum derived from fossils hundreds of years ago cannot be replenished.
Then various countries began to look for renewable and environmentally friendly energy sources. One that is very possible to produce a lot of energy sources and is environmentally friendly is palm oil.
“We strongly support the use of palm oil as biodiesel,” he said.
Currently, the palm oil mixture in diesel fuel is still at 30 percent or B30. This, he said, must continue to be increased to B40 and so on up to B100.
The government's move to increase the volume of the B30 product mix until the end of December 2022 from 10,151,018 kiloliters to 11,025,604 kiloliters is very appropriate to meet the increasing demand for diesel.
“By making palm oil an energy source, Indonesia does not need to worry about the depletion of petroleum reserves in the world,” he said.