Indonesia flags ten CPO exporters for alleged price manipulation

Indonesia’s finance ministry reported to President Prabowo Subianto that ten large crude palm oil (CPO) exporters are suspected of under‑invoicing their shipments, a practice that could be causing significant revenue losses for the state. Finance Minister Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa presented documentation of the firms, noting that the discrepancy between declared export prices and actual market values – especially in sales to the United States – suggests the exported oil is sold at only a quarter to a third of its true price.

President Prabowo highlighted that such export fraud, including under‑invoicing and transfer‑pricing schemes, has cost Indonesia an estimated US$908 billion over the past 34 years. While the government sets fresh fruit bunch (TBS) prices for local producers and references international commodity exchanges for export pricing, loopholes remain that allow exporters to manipulate declared values.

The ministry’s inquiry aims to curb systematic abuses in natural‑resource exports and recover lost state revenues.