Jakarta. Indonesia made slightly more money in the first seven months of 2026 from selling palm oil, but saw a downtrend in export volume.

Palm oil shipments amounted to $14.02 billion in January-July 2025 before rising to $14.79 billion the following year, according to the statistics agency BPS.

“This marks a 5.49% increase in palm oil export earnings,” BPS deputy Ateng Hartono told a press conference.

The shipment volume fell 0.97% over the same seven-month period. Only 13.51 million tons of palm oil left Indonesian ports, down from the 13.64 million tons exported the previous year. Even so, the resource-rich country clinched double-digit growth in July.

“Palm oil exports totaled 2.23 million tons in July alone. Its growth is quite high at 15.44% year-on-year,” Ateng said, without disclosing the value of the earnings.

Sales also helped Jakarta bounce back from the red to a positive trade balance of $120 million in July. 

Any palm oil going to overseas markets now has to go through the state-owned agency Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI), which identifies price discrepancies. DSI serves an intermediary role, with tasks encompassing export document cross-checking and ship-tracking, among others. 

Asked whether DSI’s presence had helped narrow the price gaps, Ateng replied that BPS only recorded the net weight as well as the free-on-board or the costs covered by sellers, which reach up to when the goods get loaded onto the ships at the ports.

“So our data doesn’t include the real price of the exported goods like the customs documents,” Ateng said.

Indonesia supplies most of the world’s palm oil, which is found in an array of everyday goods ranging from baked goods to cosmetics. China and India are traditionally the top clients. 

The China-bound palm oil shipments, however, were still unable to stop Jakarta from being in the red when it came to trading with the Asian powerhouse. Indonesia’s overall deficit with China even reached $16.94 billion in January-July 2026. Palm oil, however, was not Indonesia’s leading export to the Chinese market; iron and steel were at almost $10.64 billion during that period.

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