The Saudi Agriculture and Livestock Company (SALIC) has voiced its interested to invest in vegetable oil products or palm oil project in Indonesia.
Based on the latest USDA statistics, Indonesia’s crude palm oil (CPO) production reached 45.5 million metric tonnes while Malaysia reached 18.8 million metric tonnes in 2022/2023 period. Combined, both countries’ CPO production reached 64.3 million metric tonnes which represented 83% of the world’s total CPO production at 77.22 million metric tonnes.
Meanwhile, palm oil’s export value from Indonesia to Saudi Arabia in 2022 crossed US$265 million. This is more than 40% increase from US$189.4 million recorded in 2020.
Saudi interest in investing is clear as in 2022, it imported more than 226 million tonnes of cooking oil from Indonesia which supplied 32% of its domestic consumption. In total, the kingdom imported 670 million tonnes of cooking oil in that year from Malaysia, Indonesia, Oman, UAE, Singapore, US and Egypt amongst others.
SALIC is a subsidiary initiated by the Saudi Arabian monarch, established through a national, regional, and international partnership. The ownership is based on the composite owned by the Public Investment Fund of the Saudi Arabia Monarch.
