Indonesia's anti-trust body fines cooking oil firms for restricting supply
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Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, commonly used as cooking oil.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
JAKARTA – Indonesia’s anti-monopoly agency (KPPU) ordered seven cooking oil companies on Friday to pay fines of up to US$2.8 million (S$3.8 million) for restricting sales amid scarce supplies last year.
It launched an investigation after the government placed a temporary cap on surging retail prices of the essential product and later a three-week export ban on palm oil.
Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of palm oil, commonly used as cooking oil.
Seven out of 27 companies investigated were found guilty of limiting distribution of their branded cooking oils while the retail price cap was in place in early 2022, said Ms Dinni Melanie who chaired the KPPU panel.
The seven companies include Salim Ivomas Pratama, a unit of Indonesia’s largest food company Indofood Group, as well as two units of Wilmar Group.
The companies were ordered to pay fines from a billion rupiah (S$90,000) to 40.9 billion rupiah.
Wilmar said in an e-mail to Reuters on Saturday it is disappointed with the decision and believes the facts “may have been misconstrued” by KPPU.
“During the relevant period... our cooking oil operations specifically, and our industry generally, were affected by severe supply chain issues that had an impact on cooking oil delivery,” a spokesman added.
Salim Ivomas did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
All 27 companies that KPPU investigated were acquitted on charges of price fixing. REUTERS
