- Billionaires aren't the only ones profiting from Indonesia's palm oil industry.
- However, a high proportion of the country's wealthiest citizens owe at least part of their wealth to the production of this commodity.
- That's natural. Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil and also one of the most unequal societies.
14 of 32 Indonesian billionaires identified forbes magazine They are palm oil tycoons and have amassed their wealth, at least in part, through the palm oil industry.
This includes six of the 10 richest people in the country and 12 of the 20 richest people.
They are Budi and Michael Hartono. Sushiro Wonowi Jojo. Anthony Salim. Eka Cipta Widjaja. Chairman Tanjung. Muldaya Poo. Theodore Luckmatt. Ptera samporna. Peter Sondak; Skantanoto. Maltua citrus. Chiliandra Fangiono. Prajogo pangestos. and Bakhtiar Karim.
Almost all of these figures established themselves as members of the Southeast Asian nation's oligarchy during the 33-year reign of strongman President Suharto, who was ousted in 1998.
During the palm oil boom of the 2000s, Indonesia overtook Malaysia to become the world's largest palm oil producer. The number of billionaires in Indonesia has also increased from two to 11 over the past decade.
The industry's expansion continued into the 2010s, driving economic growth while destroying the archipelago's rainforests, fueling an epidemic of land-grabbing, drying out Indonesia's vast peat swamps, and increasing the number of annual losses. This is adding to the devastating fires that are engulfing the region. A suffocating fog.
The palm oil spoils are not entirely monopolized by the country's wealthiest people, with the oil used in about half of the products on supermarket shelves, from chocolate and cooking oil to soap and cosmetics.
The industry is said to employ nearly 4 million people in Indonesia, the majority of whom are day laborers with little income.
The companies that process crude palm oil into other chemicals include Golden Agri Resources (owner: Eka Cipta Widjaja, $5.6 billion), Wilmar International (Martua Citrus, $1.44 billion), and Musim. – It is carried out at several large refineries owned by conglomerates such as Mas (Bakhtial Karim). , $1.2 billion), there are thousands of factories across the country that process palm fruit into oil, but not all of them are corporate-owned.
The same is true at the plantation level, where there are many small players, from local entrepreneurs who finance plantations to farmers who grow oil palm on their own land, and who typically send oil palm to a refinery for processing. They sell the fruits to intermediaries who transport them.
But the billionaires' huge success probably speaks to modern Indonesia's status as one of the most unequal societies in history. The country is a “particularly extreme example of oligarchic control and distortion,” in part because wealth is “extraordinarily concentrated,” says political scientist Jeffrey Winters. I have written In 2012.
Some of the people on Forbes' list are relatively new to the field. Such is the case with Budi and Michael Hartono ($17.1 billion) and Susilo Wonowijojo ($7.1 billion), who each made their fortunes in tobacco before diversifying into palm oil.
However, there are some companies that have been the biggest players in the industry for many years. They include Anthony Salim ($5.7 billion), whose father Riem Soh Lyon was one of Suharto's closest business associates. Sukanto Tanoto ($1.45 billion), whose Asian Agri operates dozens of plantations, factories and refineries; and Chiliandra Fangiono ($1.4 billion), whose first resources are likely to be those of Indonesia. Most High-profile Conflicts between agribusiness and indigenous communities.
The following is list Percentage of Indonesian palm oil billionaires. However, please note that the numbers provided are just an example. estimate It is likely that much of their wealth is kept secretly. For example, Widjaja, Salim, Tanoto, Prajogo Panguest ($1.3 billion); named In 2013, the International Union of Investigative Journalists joined more than 140 offshore companies, primarily in the British Virgin Islands.
Budi and Michael Hartono ($1,171 billion) – Brothers Djarum Group expanded The oil palm will be supplied via PT Hartono Plantation Indonesia, which manages tens of thousands of hectares on Kalimantan Island.
Sushiro Wonowi Jojo ($2.71 billion) – According to the company, His Makin Group manages a total of 140,000 hectares of planted area and 13 factories on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan. Website.
Anthony Salim ($3,570 million) – Salim Group conglomerate includes: land bank Sumatra, Kalimantan, Papua. Indofood, the country's largest food company, is also part of the Salim Group and a major consumer of palm oil.
Eka Cipta Widjaja ($4.56 billion) – Golden Agri-Resources is a division of his Sinar Mas conglomerate, which also owns Asia Pulp & Paper, Indonesia's largest paper company.
Cheal Tanjung (6.49 billion dollars) – CT agro is the agribusiness division of CT Corporation. The company owns 60,000 hectares of plantations in Kalimantan and plans to invest in a flour mill and oil refinery, according to its website.
Muldaya Pooh (9,21 billion dollars) – his Central Cipta Murdaya Group is deeply involved A huge agribusiness project is being planned in Merauke district, Papua province. His wife, Siti Hartati Murdaya, imprisoned He was accused of bribing the head of Buor district in South Sulawesi province to obtain permission for an oil palm plantation.
theodore rackmat ($11,192 million) – His Triptra Agro Persada is one of the fastest growing palm oil companies in Indonesia. land bank Approximately 300,000 hectares.
Ptera Sampoerna ($12,18 billion) – Sampiorna Agro is also a major palm oil producer. In August, the company ordered The company will pay $76 million over a 2014 fire at one of its concessions in Riau province.
peter sondak (14, $1.69 billion) – his Rajawali conglomerate Eagle High Plantations; Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papuaplus seven factories.
skantotanoto (16th, $1.45 billion) – His Royal Golden Eagle conglomerate owns Asian Agri, one of the major palm oil refiners.
Maltua citrus (18, $1.44 billion) – His Wilmar International is the largest palm oil processor. The company owns a huge network of refineries, factories and plantations in Indonesia.
Chiliandra Fangiono (20, 1.4 billion) – His First Resources is one of the largest oil palm plantations, especially in Kalimantan province.
Prajogo Panguest (25 years old, $1.3 billion) – his Ballito Pacific is a diversified conglomerate with oil palm plantations and factories. west kalimantan.
Bakhtiar Karim (27 years old, $1.2 billion) – His Musim Mas is also a major refiner.
