Rice import storage irks Bulog<\/p>\n
By Prapti Widinugraheni<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) says its
\nwarehouses are well-prepared for the bumper rice harvest late
\nnext month, but admits it is having difficulty storing rice
\nimports arriving at the country's main shipping ports.<\/p>\n
Head of Bulog, Beddu Amang, said yesterday that rice imports
\nare currently still arriving at the country's main shipping ports
\nin Jakarta, Semarang in Central Java, Surabaya in East Java and
\nMedan in North Sumatra.<\/p>\n
\"We have enough warehouses to store the rice we will be buying
\nfrom farmers when the harvesting season comes...Our problem is
\nhow to store the rice imports landing at the major ports,\" he
\ntold reporters.<\/p>\n
According to earlier news reports, vessels carrying Bulog's
\ngoods, including rice imports, had been held up at Jakarta's
\nTanjung Priok port for several days because the agency had failed
\nto prepare its warehouses.<\/p>\n
The vessels were unable to berth and, as a result, caused port
\ncongestion.<\/p>\n
Reliable sources said that Bulog's storehouses are currently
\npacked with goods owned by the Goro wholesale store -- a
\nsubsidiary of the Humpuss Group -- and were thus unable to
\naccommodate the rice imports.<\/p>\n
According to Bisnis Indonesia daily yesterday, 19 vessels
\ncarrying at least 220,000 tons of Bulog's goods, including rice
\nand sugar, were still causing problems at the Tanjung Priok port.<\/p>\n
Beddu blamed the problems on the different arrival times of
\nthe ships, which made it difficult for Bulog to arrange unloading
\nand transportation of the cargo to warehouses.<\/p>\n
\"The ships arrived at different times because they came from
\nsix or seven different countries. It would have been much easier
\nif the imports came from a single country,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The inflow of goods, he said, forced Bulog to rent a number of
\nadditional warehouses.<\/p>\n
Beddu said Bulog's warehouses across the country presently
\nhave a total capacity of 3.5 million tons. About 50,000 tons of
\nthe capacity are leased to private companies across the country.<\/p>\n
In Jakarta, he said, the capacity of Bulog's warehouses,
\nincluding the additional ones rented by the agency, reach 380,000
\ntons. The agency itself owns a warehousing capacity of 250,000
\ntons.<\/p>\n
Beddu refused to disclose the amount of rice imports so far,
\nbut indicated that vessels carrying Bulog's goods will probably
\ncontinue to arrive until April.<\/p>\n
According to sources at the Tanjung Priok port, until early
\nthis month some 3.6 million tons of rice arrived through the
\nport.<\/p>\n
Despite predictions of a bumper harvest next month, Beddu
\ninsisted that rice imports are still needed to beef up
\nIndonesia's rice stocks.<\/p>\n
He said that the imports, coming in at almost the same time as
\nthe nationwide harvest, will not cause an oversupply of the grain
\nnor, in turn, cause a severe drop in domestic rice prices,
\nbecause there will be a constant outflow of the grain from
\nBulog's warehouses.<\/p>\n
Beddu said the agency's rice stock currently stands at two
\nmillion tons. In the upcoming harvesting season, Bulog may have
\nto buy some two million tons from farmers to keep prices from
\nfalling below the floor prices, bringing the agency's total rice
\nstock to four million tons.<\/p>\n
He calculated that Bulog will need 1.7 million tons for
\nroutine allocations for civil servants and Armed Forces members
\nand 600,000 tons for market operations this year.<\/p>\n
\"This leaves a standing stock of 1.7 million tons, which is
\nquite a normal sum. There will be no oversupply,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Beddu said that his office, assisted by village cooperatives
\nacross the country, is prepared to buy from farmers all the rice
\nthat is needed to keep prices from falling below the official
\nfloor price in the upcoming harvesting season.<\/p>\n
\"We estimate to buy two million tons from farmers, but if we
\nhave to buy more, we will,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bulog presently buys medium-quality rice from village
\ncooperatives at Rp 738 (32 U.S. cents) per kilogram and from
\nothers at Rp 730 per kg.<\/p>\n
The government has set the prices of harvest-dried unhusked
\nrice at Rp 330 per kg, storage-dried unhusked rice at Rp 385 per
\nkg and unhusked rice (fit for milling) at Rp 450 per kg. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rice-import-storage-irks-bulog-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}