El Nino hammers RI, doubts up over imports<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (Reuter): A searing drought stemming from the El
\nNino weather anomaly is hammering the key Indonesian corn crop on
\nJava and corn farms in the southern Philippines are reeling from
\nthe dry spell, dealers said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The drought, coupled with the currency crisis afflicting the
\ntwo nations, have fostered doubts about the ability of their
\nlivestock and poultry firms to maintain the current level of
\nanimal feed imports into next year, analysts and traders said.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is bad. The corn crop (on Java) is gone,\" said a
\ndealer for a commodity house in Singapore said. Jakarta would
\nhave to import at least 300,000 tonnes of corn in the last
\nquarter to make up the shortfall, he added.<\/p>\n
Indonesia normally harvests around 200,000-400,000 tons of
\ncorn from Java. Agriculture Minister Syarifuddin Baharsyah said
\non Wednesday he saw no early respite from the drought and parched
\nfarms would get some rain only in November.<\/p>\n
In that El Nino, floods and drought in more than 15 countries
\nkilled almost 2,000 people and caused at least US$13 billion in
\ndamage.<\/p>\n
\"What is the impact of all these economic problems on this
\nregion?\" asked one analyst. \"Do they have the money to continue
\ntheir imports.\"<\/p>\n
\"The bigger Indonesian companies will be able to continue
\ntheir import programs. But I know some of the smaller to medium
\nones may suffer as they try to juggle their resources for
\nimports,\" a U.S. trader said.<\/p>\n
Another dealer said the Philippines was in the same fix and
\nthat only major food outfits like San Miguel, one of the biggest
\ncompanies in the country, may have the money to ride out the
\nproblems.<\/p>\n
Budiarto Soebijanto, chairman of the Federation of Feedmill
\nOperators in Indonesia, said corn imports were likely to touch
\none million tonnes in 1997 from 800,000-900,000 tonnes last year.<\/p>\n
The Philippines is expected to import up to a million tonnes
\nof corn, mainly for animal feed.<\/p>\n
Traders said surging consumption of chicken and other meat in
\nboth nations will have to be met somehow by feed imports.<\/p>\n
\"They won't stop consuming things like chicken rice. So are
\nthey going to switch to lower cost feed?\" one analyst asked.<\/p>\n
More immediately, the Southeast Asian grains and oilseeds
\nmarket was flat with traders saying buyers were very cautious
\nabout doing any deals due to the currency gyrations here.<\/p>\n
The only thing heard in the market was the report that
\nMalaysia bought about 30,000 tonnes of Chinese corn for January
\nshipment, a dealer said. \"I heard they've done the deal.\"<\/p>\n
The Malaysian buyer reportedly got a discount from the current
\nprice of Chinese corn, which was quoted by the trade at around
\nUS$136-$138 a tonne C&F.<\/p>\n
Thailand has ample supplies of corn and will not go into the
\nmarket after the government approved duty-free imports of 150,000
\ntonnes of corn, traders said.<\/p>\n
Soybean and soymeal buyers around the region sat back even
\nthough Indonesia and Malaysia have not covered their needs for
\nthe last quarter of the year.<\/p>\n
Traders estimate Indonesia will need to buy around 50,000 to
\n70,000 tons of meal while Malaysia would have to pick up about
\n30,000-40,000 tons.<\/p>\n
\"In the last quarter, Malaysia and Indonesia are completely
\nopen,\" a dealer said, adding though that they will not be in a
\nhurry to pick up material since they expect prices to head south
\ndue to a bumper U.S. and Indian soybean crop.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/el-nino-hammers-ri-doubts-up-over-imports-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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