Indonesia crude palm output forecast to rise 2.1% in 2022

SINGAPORE: Indonesia's crude palm oil output is forecast to rise 2.1% next year due to rains during this year's dry season, Suroso Rahutomo, general manager at Indonesia Oil Palm Research Institute's (IOPRI) told a virtual conference on Tuesday

IOPRI forecasts that output in the world's top producing nation will reach 49.42 million tonnes in 2022 compared to an estimated 48.4 million tonnes this year, Rahutomo said.

"There is a lot of precipitation during the dry season," Rahutomo said. "It happened in 2010... from July to August and we noted that yield in Indonesia increased in 2011 and 2012. So the wet dry season will increase palm oil output in the next one to two years".

Vegetable oil producers around the world, including palm producers in neighbouring Malaysia, Canadian canola farmers and Ukrainian sunflower growers, are struggling to meet strong demand due to drought, labour shortages and rat infestations, sending prices of edible oils higher.

Indonesia set its crude palm oil export reference price 13% higher in September, adjusting export taxes for the edible oil from $93 per tonne to $166.