Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Danantara,\nDony Oskaria, is pushing for the consolidation of the sugar business\nthrough the merger of state-owned enterprises. Currently, he said, there\nare two main entities in the sugar sector, namely Sugar Co under PT\nSinergi Gula Nusantara (SGN) and sugar factories under ID Food.<\/p>\n
He conveyed this during a working meeting with the government and\nCommission VI of the DPR RI in Jakarta on Wednesday (8\/4\/2026). This\nconsolidation, he continued, aligns with the state-owned enterprise\ntransformation, starting from liquidating companies deemed no longer\nviable, divestments to focus on core businesses, consolidation of\nsimilar businesses, and restructuring.<\/p>\n
Through the merger, all of ID Food\u2019s sugar businesses will be\ncombined into SGN to form a more focused and integrated manufacturing\nentity. Meanwhile, ID Food will be directed to focus on trading\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn line with that process, we want to carry out consolidation by\nmerging ID Food into SGN. The aim is for SGN to focus on becoming an\nagriculture manufacturing company for sugar and other crops,\u201d he\nexplained.<\/p>\n
\u201cID Food will focus its business on becoming a trading company. So\nthis is deliberately done so that they focus on their respective core\nbusinesses,\u201d said Dony.<\/p>\n
With this consolidation, the government targets the formation of a\nsingle sugar holding that controls the majority of the national market\nshare. This step also aims to clarify the business focus of each entity\nto make them more effective in carrying out their roles in the\nindustry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThus, we will have a single sugar factory holding that controls 60\npercent of the total market share in Indonesia,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
When met after the meeting, Dony added that the losses occurred in\nthe previous year, namely 2025, and serve as a strong signal for the\nneed for transformation in the sugar industry. He assessed that without\nimprovements, the pressure would not only be felt by large companies but\nalso by farmers.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year. But don\u2019t look at that, meaning we see that we must look\nat the angle that we need to carry out transformation and change in our\nsugar industry,\u201d explained Dony.<\/p>\n
He also assured that the merger process would be completed soon as\npart of the restructuring of state-owned enterprises in the sugar\nsector.<\/p>\n
\u201cNext month it must be finished,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In addition, all sugar companies owned by ID Food will be integrated\ninto SGN, while the trading function will continue to be carried out by\nID Food.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will take over all of ID Food\u2019s sugar companies and unite them\ninto SGN,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Pressure from Sugar Imports<\/p>\n
In that opportunity, Dony highlighted sugar imports and the\ngovernment\u2019s steps to realise sugar self-sufficiency. For that, he\nadded, there needs to be seriousness in resolving existing issues,\nnamely the leakage of refined sugar into consumer markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this continues, it will be difficult for our sugar industry to\ndevelop due to leakages of refined sugar into the market. I hope that in\nline with what President Prabowo expects, this time we are truly serious\nabout rearranging our sugar industry. If not, we will keep having\nmeetings like this, but the impact will never be resolved,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He revealed that the red-plate sugar company, Sugar Co, recorded\nlosses of up to Rp680 billion. These losses were said to be due to price\npressures triggered by the entry of imported refined sugar into the\nconsumer sugar market.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, Sugar Co booked a loss of Rp680 billion due to prices\nthat were indeed not good enough, due to uncontrolled sugar imports,\u201d\nsaid Dony.<\/p>\n
He explained that this condition is inseparable from the leakage of\nrefined sugar entering the consumer sugar market, thus pressuring\ndomestic sugar prices and making the industry difficult to develop.\nAccording to him, if this problem continues, the national sugar industry\nwill continue to be pressured and difficult to grow.<\/p>\n
Dony also mentioned previous government interventions, including\nabsorbing public sugar through subsidies. However, these efforts were\ndeemed not to have a significant impact on market improvements.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have discussed with Mr Agriculture Minister (Agriculture Minister\nAmran Sulaiman) many times; actually, we carried out subsidies into the\nmarket to absorb all sugar from the public amounting to Rp1.5 trillion.\nBut that also did not give a significant impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He emphasised that this problem cannot be solved just through\nmeetings, but requires real improvements in industry governance.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, our efforts with Mr Agriculture Minister to make this\nsugar industry truly self-sufficient and also provide benefits to our\nfarmers, supported by strong regulations. If not, it will be difficult\nfor us to face sugar prices due to the leakage of refined sugar to the\npublic,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, we in the industry really hope that this meeting produces\nsomething concrete regarding the governance of our sugar industry going\nforward. Because Mr President really hopes that sugar can achieve\nself-sufficiency,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With that, continued Dony, sugarcane farmers can enjoy the results of\ntheir farming. Not just planting and then incurring losses due to\nunsuitable prices.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/danantara-coo-sugar-imports-uncontrolled-reveals-strategy-for-self-sufficiency-1775641928", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }