Saudi Arabia Looks to Invest in Indonesia’s Palm Oil Industry

A Trade Attache to the Indonesian Embassy for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia stated that Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Company (SALIC) is interested to invest in vegetable oil products or palm oil in Indonesia. “Concerning edible oil, SALIC is very interested to cooperate with Indonesia and Indonesia is one of the biggest crude palm oil (CPO) producers,” said Gunawan in a written statement in Jakarta, on July 26, 2023.

Gunawan mentioned that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected in 2022/2023 Indonesia’s CPO production to reach 45.5 million metric tonnes and Malaysia’s CPO production to reach 18.8 million metric tonnes. Combined, both countries’ CPO production reached 64.3 million metric tonnes which covered 83% of the world’s total CPO production at 77.22 million metric tonnes.

Further, oil palm’s export value from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia in 2022 reached US$265.73 million, which increased from US$259.02 million in 2021. In 2020, the export value reached US$89.43, which found the growth of export value from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia increased by 44% in the 2018-2022 period.

Meanwhile, in 2022, Saudi Arabia imported over 225.98 million metric tonnes of cooking oil, which supplies 32% of the total necessity. Indonesian Ambassador in Riyadh, Abdul Aziz Ahmad, said that in the 2020-2022 period, Saudi Arabia exported respectively US$124.9 million, US$117.76 million, and US$884.19 million from various countries. In total, Saudi Arabia imported 669.65 million metric tonnes of cooking oil in 2022 alone, and the 2018-2022 period saw 38% growth in export value. “It contributed to 2% of the total goods and services import Saudi Arabia made globally,” said Abdul. Biggest cooking oil suppliers for Saudi Arabia are Malaysia, Indonesia, Oman, UAE, Singapore, Egypt, Canada, Spain, and the US.

SALIC is a subsidiary initiated by the Saudi Arabia Monarch, established through a national, regional, and international partnership. The ownership is based on the composite owned by the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi Arabia Monarch.

Tags: CPO, export, Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Company, Indonesia, Vegetable Oil, Crude palm oil, Saudi Arabia, Production, Malaysia, palm oil, cooking oil, SALIC