Indonesia's palm oil output to bounce back in 2017

Indonesia’s palm oil production is likely to rise by 16 percent to 35 million tons next year, as the impacts of the crop-damaging El Niño weather pattern will fully disappear by year-end, a business group has suggested.

Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI) chairman Joko Supriyono said the rainy season from August had helped supply enough water for oil palm trees and this would improve their productivity in 2017.

“Thus, we expect to see a higher production output next year,” Joko said in a discussion on Tuesday.

For 2016, Gapki predicts output to fall by almost 8 percent to 30 million tons due to the impacts of El Niño, Joko said.

Exports of palm oil products, meanwhile, is expected to fall by 2.17 percent to 22.5 million tons this year. In 2017, the association expects to ship 24 million tons of products overseas.

“Demand from China has been declining this year, but I am sure exports will bounce back next year,” Joko said.

Edited by Anton Hermansyah

Source: The Jakarta Post