Indonesia: Liquid gold crisis worsens, 2 persons die while waiting in line for cooking oil

Indonesia's cooking oil crisis has turned fatal as two citizens in East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo lost their lives while queuing for cooking oil. The tragedy occurred despite the fact that the area is one of Indonesia's largest producers of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and fresh palm oil fruit.

Sandra, a 41-year-old housewife, passed out while waiting for her neighbourhood minimarket to open, in the blazing heat for nearly an hour on Saturday. On the way to the local hospital, she died in an ambulance. the local media reported citing the police who said that Sandra had asthma.

Further, Rita Riyani, 49, died on Tuesday after spending two days in the intensive care unit (ICU). The Head of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Samarinda Police claimed that Riyani may have been fatigued from queuing at three different shops, where she was attempting to buy the authorised two litres of cooking oil from each store, according to media reports.

For several months, Indonesia has been seized by a palm oil panic as the price of CPO has increased by 40% since the beginning of the year due to high global price levels caused by a variety of factors. Other factors include Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has resulted in shortages of other oils such as sunflower oil and rapeseed oil, as well as failed production targets in other palm oil-producing countries such as Malaysia.

Indonesia limits purchase of cooking oil to two litres

To combat the scarcity, the Indonesian government has limited the purchase of cooking oil to two litres per person. Some customers, such as Riyani, have been stockpiling oil out of fear that the limited supplies will run out. Some Indonesians have been buying and reselling it to other residents who are desperate for liquid gold.

In Medan, North Sumatra, shelves in local shops and minimarkets were similarly bare, with signs informing customers that they could only buy two litres of cooking oil for IDR14,000 (74.13 INR) per litre. Yohana Tiko, the director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment in East Kalimantan (WALHI Kaltim), said that the situation was regrettable given that Indonesia, and Kalimantan in particular, is the world's largest exporter of edible oil, SCMP reported. 

A new government policy that goes into effect on Friday removes a 30% export volume cap while raising the palm oil levy to a maximum of US$375 per tonne, up from a previous maximum export tax of US$175 per tonne, in an effort to contain growing palm oil prices.

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