India bans wheat export as heat wave hurts crop,
 domestic prices soar

  India banned wheat exports on Saturday days after saying it was targeting record shipments this year,

  as a scorching heat wave curtailed output and domestic prices hit a record high. 

  The government said it would still allow exports backed by already issued letters of credit and to

  countries that request supplies "to meet their food security needs". 

  The move to ban overseas shipments was not in perpetuity and could be revised, senior government officials

  told a press conference. 

  Global buyers were banking on supplies from the world's second-biggest wheat producer after exports

  from the Black Sea region plunged following Russia's Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. Before the ban, India had

  aimed to ship a record 10 million tonnes this year. 

  The officials added that there was no dramatic fall in wheat output this year, but unregulated exports

  had led to a rise in local prices. 

  "We don't want wheat trade to happen in an unregulated manner or hoarding to happen," commerce

  secretary BVR Subrahmanyam told reporters in New Delhi. 

  Although not one of the world's top wheat exporters, India's ban could drive global prices to new peaks

  given already tight supply, hitting poor consumers in Asia and Africa particularly hard. 

  "The ban is shocking," a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading firm said. "We were expecting

  curbs on exports after two to three months, but it seems like the inflation numbers changed the

  government's mind." 

  Rising food and energy prices pushed India's annual retail inflation near an eight-year high in

  April, strengthening expectations that the central bank would raise interest rates more aggressively.  

  Wheat prices in India have risen to record highs, in some spot markets hitting 25,000 rupees ($320) per

  tonne, well above the government's minimum support price of 20,150 rupees. 

  Rising fuel, labour, transportation and packaging costs are also boosting the price of wheat flour in India. 

  “It was not wheat alone. The rise in overall prices raised concerns about inflation and that’s why the

  government had to ban wheat exports,” said another senior government official who asked not to be

  named as discussions about export curbs were private. “For us, it’s abundance of caution.” 

  Source: Reuters 

  Farmers Stage Protests against Palm Oil Ban 

  Hundreds of smallholder farmers on Tuesday staged a protest in the capital Jakarta and in other parts

  of the world's fourth most populous country, demanding the government end a palm oil export ban that has

  slashed their income.  

  Indonesia, the world's top palm oil exporter, has since April 28 halted shipments of crude palm oil

  and some of its derivative products in a bid to control soaring prices of domestic cooking oil, rattling global

  vegetable oil markets.  

  Marching alongside a truck filled with palm oil fruit, farmers held a rally outside the offices of the

  Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs, which is leading the government policy.  

  "Malaysian farmers are wearing full smiles, Indonesian farmers suffer," one of the signs held up by

  protesters read. Malaysia is the second-largest producer of palm oil and has said it aims to supply

  markets left open by Indonesia's export ban.  

  In a statement, the smallholder farmer's group APKASINDO said since the announcement of the

  export ban the price of palm fruit had dropped 70 percent below the floor price set by regional authorities.  

  Meanwhile, APKASINDO estimated that at least 25% of palm oil mills has stopped buying palm fruit

  from independent farmers. The protesters also planned to march to the presidential palace, the group

  said.  

  Similar protests were also being held in 22 other provinces, it said. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo

  imposed the export ban on palm oil and its derivative products used in the making of cooking oil after a

  series of policies failed to control the price of the basic household food item. 

  A survey this week showed the approval ratings for Jokowi, as the president is popularly known, hit

  the lowest level since December 2015 due to rising prices. Figures released by pollster Indikator Politik

  Indonesia showed that satisfaction with  Jokowi fell to 58.1 percent in May to the lowest since December

  2015 when the president's approval rating had slumped to 53 percent.  

  Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto has said the ban would stay in place until

  bulk cooking oil prices drop to 14,000 rupiah ($0.9563) per litre across Indonesia.  

  Trade Ministry data showed as of Friday, bulk cooking oil was priced on average at 17,300 rupiah per

  liter as of Friday. 
 
  Source: The Jakarta Post 

  Indonesia posts US$16.89 billion in trade surplus
 for January-April 2022 period, highest since 2017 

  Indonesia posted another month of trade surpluses in April 2022 of $7.56 billion, an increase of 66.9%

  compared to the previous month. 

  This amounts to $16.89 billion in trade surplus within the January-April period. “This trend of surpluses is
  the highest we’ve seen since 2017,” said Margo Yuwono, Head of the Indonesian Central Statistics Agency

  (BPS) in a virtual press conference on Tuesday (April 17, 2022). 

  According to data from the BPS, exports in April 2022 amounted to $27.32 billion, while imports were

  $19.16 billion. The largest contributors to the surplus were animal fats and vegetable oil as well as

  mineral fuel. The United States, India and The Philippines constituted the largest buyers. 

  April 2022 Exports grew 47.76% on year-to-year terms, or 3.11% month-to-month. Oil and gas exports

  posted the most significant growth of 48.93% (yoy), followed by agriculture, forestry and fisheries at

  15.89%. Manufacturing grew 27.92% (yoy), while mining and other sectors grew 182.48% year-on-year. 

  In terms of export structure, the non-oil and gas sector contributed 94.75% of all exports, while

  oil-and-gas contributed the remaining 5.25%. From another perspective, according to the BPS,

  Industry contributed 69.86%, mining 23.45%, and agriculture 1.44%. 

  Based on country of destination, the largest market for exports was China, followed by the United States,

  and then Japan. China absorbed the bulk of the mineral fuel from Indonesia in April 2022. 

  In that same period, imports grew 21.97% yoy or declined 10.01% mtm. The decline was led by

  machineries and mechanical tools, which contracted by 17.68% (mtm), and steel and iron ore with

  an 18.23% contraction (mtm). 

  “However, compared to the previous year, all imports are still growing,” said Yuwono. 

  Based on the usage of the goods, the highest decline in monthly terms was for capital goods with a

  contraction of 19.34%, followed by raw and auxiliary materials with an 8.68% contraction and consumer

  goods at 6.4%. 

  China remains the largest contributor to imported goods, followed by Japan and South Korea. 

  Source: Bisnis