JAKARTA: State logistics agency Perum Bulog warns of limited availability of subsidised cooking oil Minyakita in several regions, citing a lack of fresh supply from producers as a key constraint in getting the product to traditional markets.
Muhammad Wawan Hidayanto, Bulog’s head of operations planning and price analysis, said the shortage of incoming supply was hampering distribution, particularly in eastern Indonesia, where access remains uneven.
“Distribution for our commercial Minyakita stock in several regions is indeed very limited, as there has been no additional supply from producers,” he said during a regional inflation control coordination meeting on Monday.
Bulog recorded total Minyakita distribution of 92,000 kilolitres so far this year, with around 45%, allocated to the government’s food price stabilisation programme and traditional markets.
However, getting the oil to consumers has proven challenging, with Bulog pointing to persistently high logistics costs as a major bottleneck, especially in remote and mountainous regions, such as Maluku and Papua.
In Papua, for example, shipments must be sent to Jayapura before being redistributed to inland and highland areas, significantly increasing costs and delivery times.
The absence of Bulog warehouses in many remote regions further complicates the process.
“These structural constraints are quite inhibiting,” Wawan said, adding that some areas remain beyond effective distribution coverage.
Minyakita is the sole cooking oil brand that comes from the domestic market obligation stock, which is a requirement under a regulation mandating crude palm oil exporters to supply a certain amount of their output to the domestic market as opposed to export markets.
The subsidised cooking oil has been sold at a fixed price since 2022 to stabilise the market, at a time when cooking oil prices were highly volatile.
The Trade Ministry, however, has pushed back against the notion of a broad shortage, arguing that national supply remains sufficient on paper. — The Jakarta Post/ANN
