Minyakita Price Cap Stays at IDR 15,700 per Litre; Any Rise Awaits Stable CPO Prices, Says Minister

Bogor — Trade Minister Budi Santoso has confirmed that the maximum retail price (HET) of Minyakita, the government-backed people's cooking oil, has not gone up and remains IDR 15,700 per litre. A planned HET adjustment, under discussion for several weeks, has been put on hold because its condition, stable crude palm oil (CPO) prices, has not been met, he said. Budi spoke at IPB University in Bogor on Friday, 12 June 2026, ANTARA reported.

The condition for a rise: stable CPO prices

"So the cooking oil HET is still IDR 15,700 (per litre)," Budi said on the sidelines of Campuspreneur 2026. He said the government had planned to raise the HET, but the plan depended on market conditions. "Back then the condition was that (CPO) prices be stable," he said, according to ANTARA.

Instead of raising the HET, the Ministry of Trade is taking several other steps:

• Expanding Minyakita distribution to traditional markets through the state food companies Perum Bulog and ID FOOD.
• Changing food aid programmes so they no longer depend on Minyakita and can use other cooking oil brands.
• Asking producers to supply more "second brand" cooking oils as alternatives to Minyakita. "So it's not just Minyakita; there are already plenty of second-brand cooking oils too," Budi said.

A month earlier: HET under review, B50 link denied

Talk of a higher HET began in early May. On 3 May 2026, Budi said the government was reviewing the HET together with the relevant technical ministries and agencies. He said CPO prices and production costs had risen, while the HET had not changed since 2024. At the time he put the market price of Minyakita at about IDR 15,800 per litre, down from around IDR 15,900.

Budi rejected suggestions that the review was tied to the B50 biodiesel programme, which was scheduled to start on 1 July 2026. "None at all," he said, as quoted by ANTARA and Investortrust. He said the drivers were higher CPO prices and production costs. He added that prices in Papua were still higher because of distribution problems, and the ministry had asked Bulog to help supply Minyakita there.

The food-versus-fuel debate

The government denies a direct link. Industry data, however, show that Indonesia now uses more palm oil at home for energy than for food. GAPKI's annual data, released in March 2026, put palm oil used for biodiesel in 2025 at 12.704 million tonnes, up 10.97%. Food use fell 3.64% to 9.834 million tonnes over the same period. CPO and PKO stocks at the end of 2025 were also down 19.79%, at 2.068 million tonnes.

Prices above the HET are not a new problem either. In the third week of June 2025, Statistics Indonesia (BPS) found Minyakita selling above the IDR 15,700 HET in 440 of 493 districts and cities, or about 89%, Fortune Indonesia reported. The highest prices were in Pegunungan Bintang at IDR 50,000 per litre and in Puncak, Papua, at IDR 45,000 per litre. The Ministry of Trade blamed uneven distribution rather than a shortage of stock.

With the HET held, the burden of adjustment shifts to distribution and supply. That means channelling Minyakita through state food companies and adding alternative brands. CPO prices, which the ministry is using as its benchmark for any decision, can be tracked on our prices page.