Prolonged drought from El Nino has severely disrupted palm oil transport in West Kalimantan, leaving farmers unable to sell their harvests and mills with full storage tanks. Thirteen out of 50 palm ...
El Nino-powered drought leaves Indonesian palm farmers high and dry as river recedes
El Nino drought has stranded palm oil shipments in West Kalimantan, leaving farmers with unsold fruit and cutting output.
AA Astro Awani 
Key points
- SANGGAU, INDONESIA/JAKARTA: Supendi, a 33-year-old palm fruit farmer, cooled his heels at a mill in Indonesia's West Kalimantan for four frustrating days earlier this month trying to unload his harvest of fresh fruit bunches before being told to leave as the site was full.
- For several weeks, local palm oil mills have cut their fresh fruit bunch purchases because storage tanks are filled with processed oil they cannot ship out as a prolonged drought driven by "super El Niño" conditions has dried out the area's main transportation artery, the Kapuas River.
- The Kapuas — Indonesia's longest river at 1,143 km (710 miles) — transports 40% of West Kalimantan’s palm oil output, according to data from the Indonesian Palm Oil Association, known as GAPKI.
Sentences selected automatically from the original article by Astro Awani.
Also reported by Free Malaysia Today
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Related reporting
5 stories on this topic from 5 sources, oldest first.
- Free Malaysia Today El Nino drought leaves Indonesian oil palm farmers high and dry
- Astro Awani El Nino-powered drought leaves Indonesian palm farmers high and dry as river recedes (this story)
