India is staring at a possible cooking oil crunch after a flip-flop by the Indonesian government on palm oil exports. A day before the Indonesian government clarified that its palm oil ban applies to crude palm oil (CPO) also.
Owing to rising prices in the domestic market Indonesian government has taken this decision, which will remain until cooking oil prices come down in the country. However, it will have a spiraling effect on edible oil prices across the globe, especially in India.
Meanwhile, India is in talks with Argentina to establish long-term contracts to ship crude sunflower oil. It may be noted that due to the Russia-Ukraine war, supplies of sunflower from both these nations have shrunk by half.
However, experts say that Indonesia’s supply ban on palm oil may not last beyond a month.