Importers have bone to pick over cheap beef remark<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Meat importers questioned on Friday State
\nMinister of Food and Horticulture A.M. Saefuddin's statement on
\nimport offers for cheap Australian beef.<\/p>\n
The chairwoman of the Association of Indonesian Meat Importers
\n(Aspidi), Frieda N. Nalapraya, said the comment that several
\nAustralian companies offered to sell beef to Indonesia at Rp
\n10,500 (US$1.2) per kilogram was confusing and hurt their
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
\"It is impossible to import good quality beef at Rp 10,500 per
\nkilogram,\" she said during a news conference. \"So we want to know
\nwhat kind of meat is this. Even soup bones are priced higher than
\nthat.\"<\/p>\n
Good quality beef sells here at Rp 15,000 per kilogram at
\nwholesale and about Rp 20,000 per kilogram in the marketplace.<\/p>\n
Many Indonesian importers have canceled their import plans due
\nto the cheap beef reports, Frieda claimed, and Australian
\nexporters were left confused.<\/p>\n
The report has also discouraged Indonesians from buying
\nlocally produced beef because it was priced higher than Rp 10,500
\nper kilogram, she said.<\/p>\n
\"We have asked Australian importers about the controversial
\ncheap beef report and they said they never heard of such an
\noffer. They also said they never heard that anyone could sell
\nmeat at that price.\"<\/p>\n
Accounting for about 80 percent of Indonesia's imported beef,
\nAustralian beef has become a contentious issue in the past
\nseveral months due to soaring meat prices on the domestic market,
\nmainly due to the collapse of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar.<\/p>\n
The government's proposal to switch to relatively cheaper
\nIndian buffalo meat provoked more controversy. Many local cattle
\ngrowers feared the Indian meat could bring dangerous cattle
\ndiseases back into the country and affect local cattle
\npopulations.<\/p>\n
The government countered that the public's opposition was
\nfomented by Australian meat exporters and their local partners to
\nkeep Indonesian purchases.<\/p>\n
Last month, the government announced cancellation of the
\nIndian plan after an Indonesian fact-finding team determined that
\nfatal bovine diseases remained in parts of the subcontinent.
\nSaefuddin then announced the Australian Rp 10,500 per kilogram
\noffer, a price inclusive of cost, insurance and freight.<\/p>\n
Frieda denied soaring domestic meat prices were due to the
\nexistence of a cartel.<\/p>\n
\"No, no there is no cartel. We do not set prices and
\nAustralian exporters do not, either. The government has made us
\nthe scapegoat for its failure to control beef prices in the local
\nmarket.\"<\/p>\n
She blamed distributors for sharp price hikes.<\/p>\n
\"For example, we sell forequarter meat, which is used for the
\nmeatball, sausage and burger industry at Rp 15,000 per kilogram.
\nHowever, its price at the consumer level reached almost Rp 30,000
\nper kilogram,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Frieda said meat importers focused on importing beef from
\nAustralia and New Zealand because they were recommended by the
\nagriculture ministry. (gis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/importers-have-bone-to-pick-over-cheap-beef-remark-1447893297",
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