Eliza Mardian, a researcher from the Center of Reform on Economics , believes that crude palm oil and its derivative products will remain Indonesia's mainstay plantation exports amidst global economic uncertainty and rising trade protectionism.
Eliza said palm oil has strong prospects as global demand for vegetable oils continues to increase along with population growth and urbanization.
According to him, palm oil has the advantage as a vegetable oil with a competitive price and wide utilization compared to soybean oil, sunflower oil, and corn oil.
He added that developing value-added derivative products could be Indonesia's strategy to expand its palm oil export market.
Eliza said that in the long term, global demand for renewable raw materials for the chemical, materials, and energy industries is expected to continue to increase.
This situation could be an opportunity for Indonesia to increase exports of value-added palm oil derivative products, such as oleochemicals and specialty products , provided they are able to meet the sustainability standards demanded by the market.
However, he reminded that these efforts still face challenges in the form of issues of deforestation and the legality of palm oil plantations, which are of concern to the global market.
