Chattogram-bound ship escapes ban, to arrive Bangladesh 6 May

The world's largest palm oil exporter, Indonesia, on 28 April enforced a ban on exporting palm oil.

Although the Indonesian navy barred two ships from leaving the port as they were exporting the oil during the embargo, the Chattogram bound vessel, Sumatra Palm, left the Indonesian port safely just before a day of imposing restriction.

T.K. group is importing 13.1 million litres of palm oil via the vessel.

According to the Vesselfinder website, Sumatra sailed for Chattogram on 27 April. A day after the vessel left the port, the Indonesian navy intercepted the sailing of two ships carrying oil from their country's maritime boundary.

The local representative of the Sumatra, Mohammadi Trading Company Limited general manager Kazi Abu Nayeem, told Prothom Alo that Sumatra Palm is likely to arrive in Bangladesh on 6 May.

The importers claimed that imports of at least 20,000 tonnes of palm oil have been thwarted due to the embargo of Indonesia. But it is not confirmed which company was importing the consignment.

According to the National Revenue Board (NBR), Bangladeshi businessmen imported 120 million litres of palm oil to the country in April.

Bangladesh has to import around 130 million tonnes of palm oil yearly. Ninety per cent of which is imported from Indonesia while only 10 per cent is from Malaysia.