Indonesia looks at changing palm oil export tax structure -govt official

Indonesia's industry ministry is considering changes to the country's palm oil export tax system, a government official said on Wednesday, as the top producer and exporter of the edible oil looks to further promote downstream industries. Southeast Asia's biggest economy - forecast to produce between 28 million and 30 million tonnes of crude palm oil and export around 21 million tonnes this year - introduced a monthly export tax in 1998 on palm oil and its products to guarantee domestic supplies and develop local processing industries. But with palm refining capacity set to jump almost 50 percent to 45 million tonnes in 2014, the industry ministry is looking at offering tax breaks to higher value-added palm products, Panggah Susanto, director general of agricultural industries told reporters. "The government is assessing and evaluating the existing palm oil export tax structure," Susanto said. Read More http://ift.tt/1o2WzDy