Indonesia's November CPO Benchmark Falls to US$978.90; BPDP Levy US$122.36

Jakarta — Indonesia's Ministry of Trade has set the crude palm oil (CPO) reference price for 1–30 November 2026 at US$978.90 per tonne, down 6.07% from US$1,042.15 in October. November's CPO export duty is US$124 per tonne, while the export levy funding the Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) is equivalent to US$122.36 per tonne. This is a monthly administrative export benchmark, not a daily CPO trade or a retail biodiesel price.

The benchmark falls and the levy per tonne adjusts

ANTARA quoted Tommy Andana, director general of foreign trade, as saying the reference price fell US$63.25 a tonne from October. The export levy rate remains 12.5% of the reference price, producing a November charge of US$122.36 per tonne. ANTARA's earlier report put October's export levy at US$130.269 per tonne and its export duty at US$178 per tonne. A lower levy on each tonne does not by itself establish how much BPDP will collect in November: actual receipts also depend on the volume and types of products exported.

Trade Ministerial Decree No. 2064/2026 records the November determination. The ministry's legal information portal, JDIH, lists the decree as in force and dated 29 October, but does not provide its annex for inspection. The detailed figures here therefore rely on ANTARA's account of the ministry's statement rather than a direct reading of that annex. Export duty and export levy are separate charges and should not be presented as a single BPDP rate.

Why does the benchmark differ from today's market price?

According to the ministry explanation reported by ANTARA, the calculation uses averages observed from 20 September to 19 October: US$869.07 per tonne on the Indonesian CPO exchange, US$1,088.73 on the Malaysian exchange, and US$1,443.90 for Rotterdam port CPO. Under the calculation rule described by Tommy, when the spread among the three exceeds US$40, the two prices at the median and closest to it are used. For this determination, the ministry used the Indonesian and Malaysian prices. The November benchmark thus reflects an earlier observation period; it is not a quotation from trading on 1 November.

That distinction matters when readers compare the figure with KPBN tenders, Malaysian palm futures, or provincial fresh fruit bunch (FFB) prices. Those measures differ in market, unit and period. The CPO prices and FFB prices pages provide context for those instruments, while the export reference price is the basis for charges in its specified month. A lower reference price does not mean every farmer's FFB price immediately falls by the same percentage.

What does it mean for biodiesel funding?

The CPO export levy is one of the charges feeding BPDP's plantation funding mechanism. A lower levy amount per tonne, despite the unchanged 12.5% rate, is relevant to the backdrop for biodiesel support. But the available reports contain neither November export realisations nor November BPDP receipts. They therefore do not establish the change in the fund's cash position or its ability to pay biodiesel incentives. The per-tonne comparison describes a policy parameter, not a final financial outcome.

Indonesia's biodiesel market index price (HIP) also follows its own period and formula. November's CPO export reference price should not be mistaken for an announcement of the November biodiesel HIP or a change in the retail price of subsidised biodiesel blend (Biosolar). Readers can consult the biodiesel HIP dataset for announced values and the price dashboard to distinguish monthly benchmarks from daily trading. Exporters need to track the reference price, duty and levy applicable in November; the implications for BPDP's realised funding require subsequent data.