British media： Indonesians are worried about another ＂oil shortage＂

The British "Guardian" article on May 11, the original title: "How many months do we have to endure?" Indonesians are suffering from high-priced cooking oil? When millions of Indonesians return home to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, most families will discuss the same issue at the party: the price of cooking oil. Alifa Catini said, "I have been holding Eid al-Fitr celebrations for my extended family, and I have prepared all the meals for 20 people by myself. But this year, I asked them to pay for the first time, because everything is expensive, especially cooking oil. I can’t stand it alone. "

Palm oil is the most widely used edible oil in Indonesia, and Catini uses it for cooking and doing business at home. For the past 25 years, she has run a small catering business in her home in Bekaxi, West Java, and also made and sold traditional biscuits. But the rising price of edible oil has brought great difficulties to her business. She said: "Eid al-Fitr was originally the time when I received the most orders and the most income in a year. I can make more than 25 kilograms of fried biscuits just for Eid al-Fitr. But this year I decided not to accept any orders, because oil is too expensive. If I raise the price of cookies, customers won’t buy them. "

Catini said that she needs about 6 liters of cooking oil every week, usually about 15,000 rupiah per liter (1 rupiah is about 0.00046 yuan). But in the past few months, oil prices have been rising, reaching a maximum of 30 thousand rupiah per liter. "Before the price rose so high, edible oil first disappeared from shops and markets. I have to wait in line for hours to get a liter. Sometimes I even go to another area to find oil. But when it reached 30,000 rupiah per liter, I gave up. "

Mohammad Faisal, executive director of Indonesian Center for Economic Reform, said that there are two main reasons for the soaring price of edible oil: the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil, but the surge in cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia last year affected the supply of palm oil. In addition, after the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the supply of another edible oil, sunflower seed oil, also became tense. Russia and Ukraine are both major exporters of sunflower oil in the world. In order to ensure domestic supply, Indonesian President Joko decided to ban the export of edible oil and its raw materials from April 28th.

Although Catini has experienced many palm oil price fluctuations, it is by far the most serious one. She asked, "How many more months do we have to endure?" According to data from Indonesia, the price of palm oil has been rising since October 2021, and it has not dropped since the implementation of the export ban. Zhu Youta, 32, who lives in Mangalai County, East Nusa Tenggara Province, said that cooking oil had been out of stock for several months, and the price doubled when it was put on the shelves again. "But I will buy it anyway, because we need it."

In March this year, former Indonesian President Megawati criticized women for making too many fried foods and said they should cook more food. This statement caused an uproar. Zhu Youta said: "Edible oil is a very important part of our lives. We cannot underestimate this problem by forcing people to cook instead of frying. I tried. It’s not that simple. My 3-year-old’s favorite food is fried fish. It is not a small challenge to give him only boiled or steamed food. "

Some experts criticized the Indonesian government’s export ban, saying it would not help to lower prices. Roussely Abdullah, a researcher at Indonesian Institute of Economic and Financial Development, said, "Theoretically, banning the export of cooking palm oil and raw materials will make domestic supply sufficient. However, this does not guarantee that when the price is not attractive, the enterprise will release its inventory. " Faisal called the move "hasty and hasty" and said that the export ban may have a wide impact. Catini, on the other hand, said that she hoped the price of edible oil would drop soon, because her business was the main source of family income. (Author Gemma Huolianni Chaya, translated by biography)