Prices Of oil Palm Fruits Up In Barito

Muara Teweh, C Kalimantan, April 1 (ANTARA) - The price of bunches of fresh fruits (BFF) of oil palm set for April rose again in the regency of Barito Utara , Central Kalimantan. The price set by plantation company PT Antang Ganda Utama for BFF from its plasma farmers in the sub-district of Teweh Selatan, rose to Rp1,227 per kilogram from Rp1,069 earlier, a farmer said. "The price has been increasing over the past two months. The price hike encourages the local farmers," Taufik said here on Monday. The plasma farms of PT Antang Ganda Utama operated by local farmers, cover a total area of 4,254 hectares involving 1,800 farm families. The nucleus plantation of the company is around 16,297 hectares producing 15,000 tons of BFF a month. Under a nucleus-smallholders cooperation agreement, the plasma farmers will sell their BFF to the nucleus company PT Antang Ganda Utama, which provides the plasma farms and seeds for the farmers. Head of the Barito Utara forestry and plantation service Iwan Rusdani said the new price is set to be effective for April 2013 or an increase of Rp158 from the price set for March. The new price was set in a meeting between the company and cooperative leaders and plasma farmers facilitated by the district administration, Iwan said. The selling price of palm kernel oil (PKO) rose from Rp2,045 to Rp2,734 per kilogram and the selling price of crude palm oil (CPO) increased from Rp5,829 to Rp6,579 per kilogram on the domestic market. "The increase in the price of BFF followed the trend in the market of PKO and CPO," he said. PT Antang Ganda Utama is the oldest oil palm plantation company in Central Kalimantan under the Matahari Kahuripan Indonesia (Makin) Group. It is a subsidiary of the giant cigarette producer Gudang Garam Kediri, East Java. It has oil palm plantations occupying a total area of 18,087 hectares with CPO production of 3,200 tons per month.