Pekanbaru, Riau, Oct 29 (Antarariau.com) - Indonesia will make efforts to increase palm oil exports to Russia, especially products for direct use by consumers.
"Indonesia's palm oil export volume to Russia is quite large, but it is more for the industrial sector, while that for direct consumers is still low. Russia is the largest country in the world, with a population of 140 million, but the market has not been optimally explored," Minister Counselor of the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow Adiguna Wijaya noted here on Monday.
Wijaya accompanied the Russian Vegetable Oil Association and several Russian journalists visiting Pekanbaru on October 27-28, 2018.
According to Wijaya, palm oil is Indonesia's second-largest export product to Russia, with a value of US$551,479 million.
The Russian delegation that visited Pekanbaru comprised Polina Kondrashina from the Information Service of the Interfax News Agency; Alexandr Gavrilenko from the National Agrarian Agency ROSNG; Artem Falchev, as a special correspondent of Milknews; and Secretary of the Russian Vegetable Oil Association, Yulia Dementyeva.
During the visit to Pekanbaru, the Russian delegation held a dialogue with the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI), the Indonesian Oil Palm Farmers Association (APKASINDO), the Association of Indonesian Palm Oil Smallholder (Aspekpir), and an organization of Sawit Masa Depanku (Samade).
Dementyeva noted that 80 percent of Russia's palm oil imports came from Indonesia. The palm oil products are used for the processed food industry and not for direct consumption.
"Indonesia is the largest provider. Palm oil in Russia is the main raw material for processed food industries. Most people do not know that palm oil can be consumed immediately," she noted.
Currently, vegetable oil produced in Russia is processed from sunflower, apart from soybean and rapeseed as well as other plants that only grow in Russia.
Almost all cooking oil for domestic consumption is processed from sunflower seeds.
She said the Russian delegation will also visit research centers to gain a deeper understanding of the advantages of palm oil.
Indonesia to Increase Palm Oil Exports to Russia
