Jakarta, May 23 -- Deputy Minister of Industry, Faisol Riza, has said that the value of exports of essential oil products in 2024 reached Rp4.2 trillion (US$259.54 million), the highest level in five years.

"Currently, Indonesia is the eighth-largest essential oil exporter in the world," Riza noted here on Friday.

The main destinations for Indonesia's essential oil exports included India, the United States, China, Singapore, and France.

Riza said that the essential oil industry is a strategic sub-sector based on non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and aromatic plants that are closely linked to the agriculture, plantation, and health and beauty sectors.

"This makes essential oils one of Indonesia's leading commodities that have strategi...