Indonesia seizes cooking oil shipment bound for East Timor

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpJAKARTA Reuters – Indonesia has impounded at least 81,000 litres of cooking oil bound for East Timor, the trade ministry said, as the Southeast Asian country seeks to enforce a ban on exports of crude palm oil and its derivatives including cooking oil. p

pAt least eight shipping containers holding cooking oil and other items were confiscated at Tanjung Perak port on April 28 in Surabaya on Java island after “the ship deceived authorities by not listing cooking oil in the export declaration document,” the trade ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pThose found guilty of breaching the cooking oil export ban could face a maximum of five years of prison and a fine of up to 5 billion rupiah 341,997, said Sihard Hadjopan Pohan, a director at the trade ministry. Officials did not name the ship or the owner of the cargo.p

pIndonesia, the worlds biggest palm oil producer, has since late last month halted exports of crude palm oil and refined products in a bid to control soaring prices of cooking oil at home.p

pThe export ban has rattled global vegetable oil markets that were already struggling after the war in Ukraine removed a big chunk of sunflower oil supply. Palm oil makes up more than a third of the worlds vegetable oil market, while Indonesia accounts for around 60 of palm oil supply.p

pChief economics minister Airlangga Hartarto has said the export ban would stay in place until bulk cooking oil prices drop to 14,000 rupiah per litre across the country. As of Thursday, Trade Ministry data showed bulk cooking oil was being sold at 16,600 rupiah per litre.1 14,620.0000 rupiahp

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pp Reporting by Bernadette Christina Editing by Ed Daviesp

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