REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, MEDAN -- North Sumatra's earning from the export of crude palm oil fell 18.17 percent in 2015 on weak demand in international market.

"A decline was already recorded since early 2015. In the first quarter of 2015 exports of CPO fell 18.09 percent year-on-year," head of the North Sumatra office of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Wien Kusdiatmono said here on Wednesday.

In the whole of 2015, exports of CPO from the province were valued only at US$3.318 billion down from US$4.055 billion in 2014.

The decline in exports was attributable mainly to falling demand from China , one of the largest markets for Indonesia's CPO.

Shrinking demand resulted in falling price, said one of the founders of Palm Oil Agribusiness Strategic Policy Institute (Paspi), Balaman Tarigan.

Balaman said the price of crude palm oil (CPO) in Rotterdam on February 1, for delivery in March was only US$600 per metric ton and the price at Joint Marketing Office (KPB) of PTPN was set at Rp6,650 per kg.

"Despite an increase from January, the price was still below the normal level," he said.

The price of CPO in 2014 averaged Rp7,850 per kg.

"Based on the price early this year it is predicted the price of CPO in 2016 would still fall below the price in 2014," he said.

Indonesia is the world's largest producer and supplier of CPO and North Sumatra is one of the country's largest producing provinces for the commodity.

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