Finally! Cooking Oil Prices to Ease

abbychumz

Senior Lister
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The President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, announced that Indonesia will lift its palm oil export ban from Monday 23rd May 2022, a move that could see the surge in cooking oil prices in Kenya to ease. According to a Commerce Ministry official, the chief reason for lifting the ban is because Indonesia ran out of storage capacity in less than a month after announcing the sudden export ban. “Indonesia’s domestic consumption of palm oil is much less than their production, so this decision was on the cards. But it has come much earlier than we expected. It will soften the prices and check food inflation that has jumped sharply,” Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sashay said.Also, the decision to lift the ban was taken into consideration by the 17 million workers in the palm oil industry.

The world’s top oil exporter, Indonesia, on 28th April 2022, announced the ban on the export of crude palm oil and its raw materials to bring down domestic prices. The move came at a time when the prices of cooking oil were already on a rising spree. Thousands of smallholder framers have held protests demanding the Indonesian government lift the ban that has not only slashed their incomes but also caused economic hardships across the globe. Cooking oil, which is a product of crude palm oil, has stubbornly remained above the official guidance of 14000 rupias (96 cents) per litre despite the ban.

Many countries, including Kenya, depend on Palm oil as an alternative to the costly soybean and sunflower oil. Most of Kenya’s palm oil comes from Indonesia, where the two islands of Borneo and Sumatra, some of the world’s biggest palm oil suppliers, are. Malaysia is the second biggest market for Kenya’s palm oil. Crude palm oil, which makes virtually all of the country’s imports at 93 percent, has significantly affected the local market. The commodity at one point rose above USD 130 a barrel in the global market and is still trading above USD 100 per barrel.

The prices of cooking oil have jumped by almost 33 percent Since March 2022 in Kenya, making it the country’s most expensive essential commodity.A litre of Fresh Fri and Avena cooking oil in major shopping outlets now sells at 415 shillings. A 5 litre and 10 litres of the same commodities are going for 1,850 shillings and 3500 shillings, respectively. Besides cooking oil, palm oil is used in many everyday items – from cakes to frying fats, cosmetics to cleaning products, and biofuels to detergents. It is used in Chocolates, margarine, noodles, biscuits, soaps, and shampoos. A surge in palm oil prices has impacted the cost of all these consumer goods over the months.
 

Anglututu

Elder Lister
Not so sure it will come down in Kenya, they’ll give us the petrol prices have gone up.
For those following , crude oil prices fell the other day after the great satan started using some of its reserves or whatever they said .
 
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