PALMOILMAGAZINE, BANDUNG – The Association of Indonesian Oleochemical Producers (Apolin) envisions that exports of oleochemical products from Indonesia could potentially reach US$ 54 billion by 2030. This projection is contingent upon the development of downstream palm oil industries in Indonesia.
Rapolo Hutabarat, the General Secretary of Apolin, highlighted that the anticipated growth in oleochemical exports is driven by increasing demands from various industries, including cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals. He envisions the 2030 export projection to be around USD 5.4 billion, with an annual growth rate of approximately 6 percent.
However, Hutabarat noted that oleochemical exports declined the previous year due to global commodity decreases, totaling USD 3.5 billion with a volume of approximately 4.2 million tons..
Hutabarat continued, the biggest oleochemical markets are in Asia Pacific that reached USD16 billion while the rests are in European Union and America.
The main products are fatty acid, fatty alcohol, and others. “Indonesia should explore the countries in Africa knowing that it has big population but low gross domestic products,” he said when being a speaker in Workshop Jurnalis Industri Hilir Sawit that Palmoilmagazine.com attended, Thursday (1/2/2024) in Bandung.
Hutabarat continued palm oil downstream industries face some challenges, including the lack of operation to some products, such as, tocopherol and beta carotene.
Though the two products would have big markets that reached up to about USD 1,3 billion and USD 4,7 billion, there is no oleochemical producer in Indonesia that produce the two. He emphasized Indonesia should take advantage on its natural resources by fulfilling the emptiness particularly by involving Enterprises in pharmacy sectors. (T2)
