Indonesia lifts crude palm oil tax to 19.5% for May

JAKARTA: Top global palm oil producer Indonesia will increase its export tax for crude palm oil ( CPO) to 19.5 percent for May from 18 percent in April due to higher international prices, a trade ministry official said on Monday.

The government will also raise its raise the export tax for RBD palm olein to 10 percent in May, versus 9 percent in April, Deddy Saleh, the director general of foreign trade at the trade ministry, told Reuters.

Indonesia sets its commodity export taxes on a monthly basis.

"CPO export tax for May is 19.5 percent because its price in international market in the last one month was increasing," Saleh said.

He also said the government would leave its tax on cocoa beans unchanged at 5 percent for May due to stable international prices.

Southeast Asia's largest economy has a palm export tax system that aims to boost downstream industries, secure domestic supplies and reduce volatility in cooking oil prices.

The tax rate for the following month is calculated based on CIF Rotterdam prices, Malaysian benchmark and Jakarta futures prices.

By the midday break on Monday, benchmark July palm oil futures on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange lost 0.1 percent to 3,501 ringgit ($1,155) per tonne. Throughout April, prices have gained about 2 percent.

Last August, Indonesia set new palm oil export tax rules which include setting the minimum level for the CPO export tax at 7.5 percent versus 1.5 percent previously.

Below is a table for previous month's tax percentages:

Month Crude Palm Oil Palm Olein Cocoa Beans

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May 19.5 10 5

April 18 9 5

March 16.5 8 5

February 16.5 8 5

January 15 7 5

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December 15 7 5

November 15 7 7

October 16.5 8 10

September 15 15 10

August 15 15 10

July 20 20 10

June 17.5 17.5 10

May 17.5 17.5 10

April 22.5 22.5 15

March 25 25 10

- Reuters