/data/photo/2022/03/09/62283211dc47d.jpg "Results of “Blusukan” Trade Minister Looking for Cheap Cooking Oil: Suspicion of a Price Game, Modern Retail Goods Enter the Market at Expensive Prices Page all")
JAKARTAKOMPAS.com – Minister of Trade Muhammad Lutfi continues to look for the root cause of the rising selling price and the scarcity of cooking oil in the country since early 2022.
Trade Minister even went to the field, going in and out of traditional markets to get answers. On February 1, he visited the TambaK Rejo Market in Surabaya, East Java. In this market, the Minister of Trade finds cooking oil price Bulk in Surabaya doesn’t make sense, it’s actually more expensive than in Makassar.
Whereas according to data from the Ministry of Trade, the supply of cooking oil that has been realized in East Java as of February 18, 2022 is 14 million liters.
Also read: If Palm Oil Entrepreneurs Can’t Provide Domestic Supply, Revoke Export Permits…
Most recently, the Minister of Trade visited the Kebayoran Lama Market, Jakarta, Wednesday (9/3/2022). In this market, the Minister of Trade found that there was a stock of cooking oil available.
During his review, the Minister of Trade found one problem, namely that there were no kiosks selling cooking oil according to the Highest Retail Price (HET) set by the government, for either bulk or packaged cooking oil.
“Cooking oil, there are goods. Both in bulk and in packaging. The problem today is that none of the stalls we bring today sell cooking oil according to the highest retail price (HET) determined by the government,” said the Minister of Trade on the sidelines of his visit, Wednesday. (9/3/2022).
Also read: When Trade Minister Lutfi visited the market, none of the traders sold cheap cooking oil…
Alleged price game
The Trade Minister also considered that there was a game on the price of cooking oil that was carried out by unscrupulous persons. That is, goods from modern retail at a lower price enter the market, being sold at a higher price.
Therefore, in modern retail it is difficult to get cooking oil at HET prices.
“This is a discrepancy between modern and traditional retail because the prices for traditional retail are much higher, so people can queue up at the modern market. In modern retail, they enter traditional retail and sell for a much higher price than the government set,” said Trade Minister Lutfi. .
The Trade Minister suspects that there are leaks, hoarding and smuggling abroad
The Minister of Trade (Mendag) Muhammad Luthfi suspects that there are elements who dare to play with cooking oil, causing people to still have difficulty getting cooking oil at cheap prices.
In fact, he said, the government actually has sufficient and even abundant cooking oil stock resulting from the implementation of the DMO (domestic market obligation) and DPO (domestic price obligation) policies.
“We are talking about all of Indonesia, this 390 million liters are for all of Indonesia, as of yesterday it was 415 million liters in just 20 days,” said the Minister of Trade during a visit to the Kebayoran Lama Market, Wednesday (9/3/2022). The Trade Minister explained that there are two possible reasons why cooking oil is scarce in the market.
Also read: Cheap Cooking Oil is Rare, Trade Minister: Some is Hoarded and Smuggled Abroad
First, because of leaks for industries which are then sold at prices not according to government standards.
Second, there is smuggling from a number of individuals. “I will take these two actions according to the law,” said the Trade Minister.
The Trade Minister also suspects that there are individuals who hoard cooking oil. The stockpile is then sold abroad at prices prevailing at the global level.
“So there are those who hoard, are sold to industry or some are smuggled abroad, this is against the law,” said Lutfi.
Also read: The Minister of Trade Makes Banners at the Market, Asks Traders to Sell Cheap Cooking Oil
Solutions of the Minister of Trade to deal with naughty market traders: warning banners
Seeing that there is still a price issue that does not match the HET at the Kebayoran Lama market, the Trade Minister plans to give a banner to the market traders that reads the price of bulk cooking oil at Rp 11,500/liter or Rp 12,800/kg.
It is hoped that with the banner, market traders can no longer play with the price.
“I will give traders here a banner with a description of the HET price so that they no longer sell above HET. So the public can get a cheap price,” explained the Trade Minister.
Also read: Minister of Trade: Abundant Cooking Oil, Exceeding Needs
DPR’s suggestion: revoke export licenses for “cheeky” palm oil producers
Member of Commission VI DPR RI, Andre Rosiade, said that the issue of cooking oil currently only needs firmness from the government to palm oil producers.
“This cooking oil issue is actually not very difficult. You just need to be firm with palm oil entrepreneurs. Whoever the entrepreneur is, call him. If you can’t supply supplies to the country, revoke the export permit,” said Andre in a virtual discussion: Cooking Oil Is Getting Lost More Magical, Tuesday (8/3/2022).
Andre suggested that the government would summon all palm oil production and divide the tasks to be responsible for distributing cooking oil according to the designated areas. In this way, it is hoped that each region will no longer complain about stock limitations.
“If I were a minister, I would call all cooking oil producers for me to do my job. Producer A is the responsibility of Aceh province, producer B is responsible for North Sumatra province. So they are responsible for distributing 20 percent of their production,” he said.
Police: no cooking oil cartel, but…
The head of the National Police’s Food Task Force, Inspector General Pol. Helmy Santika said the scarcity of cooking oil in several areas was due to the adjustment of the pattern of activities of business actors to government policies in order to stabilize the price of the commodity.
“So far no cartel has been found. If the public has information on cartel practices, price games, or hoarding, whether carried out by business actors, distributors or certain individuals, then immediately inform the Police Food Task Force for immediate action,” said Helmy quoted from BetweenTuesday (8/3/2022).
He explained that the National Police’s Food Task Force supervises cooking oil throughout Indonesia, including Makassar, Medan, Lampung, East Nusa Tenggara, Lebak, and Serang.
From the supervision, he continued, it was found that business actors were holding back the sale of cooking oil stocks, because previously buying at the old price was more expensive than the highest retail price (HET) from the Government.
“Against this finding, the National Police urges it to be immediately distributed according to the market mechanism,” he said.
(Author Elsa Catriana, Muhammad Idris | Editor Akhdi Martin Pratama, Aprillia Ika)
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