[Special Stock] Sempio Hits Upper Limit Amid Indonesia Palm Oil Export Halt... Also Sets New 52-Week High

May 15, 2020, view of Sempio Foods headquarters in Chungmuro, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] Sempio is hitting the upper price limit in the market on the afternoon of the 26th. This is a consequence of Indonesia, the world's largest palm oil exporter, deciding to completely halt exports.

As of 1:20 PM on the same day, Sempio was trading at 93,700 KRW, up 29.96% (21,600 KRW) from the previous trading day, approaching the price limit of 30%.

This is interpreted as an effect of Indonesia's decision to suspend palm oil exports. According to the Indonesian Presidential Palace on the 23rd, President Joko Widodo announced, "Following a meeting regarding essential goods for the people, especially cooking oil, it was decided to ban the export of cooking oil and raw materials for cooking oil starting from the 28th until further notice."

Following Indonesia's export ban announcement, palm oil prices surged consecutively. According to Bloomberg and others on the 25th, the July delivery palm oil price on the Kuala Lumpur exchange in Malaysia temporarily rose 7.0% during the session to 6,799 ringgit per ton (approximately 1.95 million KRW), marking the highest level since the 11th of last month.

Palm oil futures prices are also rising. Major foreign media reported, "Immediately after Indonesia's announcement of the export ban on palm oil and cooking oil, soybean oil futures prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the United States surged 4.5%, reaching the highest level since 2008." Palm oil futures prices on the Dalian Commodity Exchange in China rose 3%, and soybean oil futures prices increased by 1.5%.

Market analysts stated that Indonesia's export ban decision over the past weekend, responsible for about 60% of the world's palm oil supply, has triggered concerns about international supply-demand imbalances, driving up palm oil prices.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.