Supply Squeeze
Cooking-Oil Chaos Exacerbates a Looming World Hunger Crisis
Indonesia is halting palm oil exports in the midst of high inflation, weather woes and tight supplies
Hundreds of people line up to get cooking oils in Palembang, Indonesia on Feb. 24, 2022.
Photographer: Muhammad A.F/Anadolu Agency/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The world's supply of cooking oil -- already squeezed by war -- is getting smaller.
Two months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended global agricultural trade, Indonesia is set to ban exports of cooking oil in the wake of a local shortage and soaring prices, adding to a raft of crop protectionism around the world. The country accounts for more than a third of global vegetable-oil exports, with China and India, the two most populous countries, among its top buyers.