The world's biggest palm oil producer halted exports of the commodity from April 28 in an attempt to bring down soaring local prices of cooking oil, rattling global edible oil markets already struggling with sunflower oil supply shortages due to the war in Ukraine.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo announced on May 19 the lifting of the ban on exports of crude palm oil (CPO) and some derivative products, expressing confidence that bulk cooking oil prices were heading towards a target level of Rp 14,000 (US$0.9546) per liter, even if they were currently higher in some areas.

Palm oil, used in everything from margarine to shampoo, comprises a third of the world's vegetable oil market, with Indonesia accounting for about 60 percent of supply, followed by Malaysia at around 30 percent.

To ensure supply security, Indonesia said it will impose a domestic market obligation (DMO) policy, whereby producers are required to sell a portion of their products locally at a certain price level.

Indonesia plans to retain 10 million tons of cooking oil supplies at home under the DMO rules, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said, adding their implementation will be regulated by the Trade Ministry.

Traders were on Monday waiting for details on the DMO and other rules to be made public.

"Sellers are first trying to clear pending quantity that was stuck because of the ban. They are accepting new orders as well, but demand is not great," said a Mumbai-based dealer with a global trading house.

"They are also not too keen to sell a lot before understanding DMO rules," added the trader.

A Jakarta-based company, which did not want to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter, said it was also waiting for details of the rules before embarking on shipments.

A senior trade ministry official did not respond when contacted by Reuters seeking details.

Partially reflecting the Indonesia policy uncertainty, palm oil futures from rival supplier Malaysia climbed 1.67 percent on Monday.

Asked whether palm oil producer Musim Mas had resumed exports, spokesperson Carolyn Lim said the company was still focused on "flooding the domestic markets with cooking oil to hopefully reach the target retail price", noting the Indonesian government was still concerned about the high retail prices.

As of Friday, the average price of bulk cooking oil was at Rp 17,000 per liter, Trade Ministry data showed.

Some farmers, though, cheered the ending of the export ban.

Last week, farmers staged rallies across Indonesia to protest a 70 percent drop in prices of palm fruit as refiners stopped accepting supplies because palm oil storage filled up.

"There are no more long lines at palm oil mills," said palm oil farmer Irfan, who said palm fruit prices in his area of West Sulawesi had started to stabilize.

On Sunday, Malaysia’s plantation industries and commodities minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said Indonesia's resumption of palm oil exports would not blunt Malaysia's competitiveness, pointing to the rival's loss of sales in India.

India, traditionally getting two-thirds of its palm oil from Indonesia, was forced to buy more of the commodity from Malaysia and Thailand after Indonesia enacted the export ban.

"Indonesia's policies could well work to Malaysia's advantage ...," said Zuraida, adding that the ban "would enable (Malaysia) to emerge a dominant supplier to India".

Zuraida's ministry is talking to the finance ministry about a proposal to temporarily cut an export tax on crude palm oil by as much as half to help fill the global shortage of edible oil and boost Malaysia's market share, she told Reuters in an interview last week.

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