Australia ships wheat to RI

JAKARTA (JP): Prominent Australian wheat flour producer Manildra Pty Ltd has shipped a significant amount of wheat flour to Indonesia, the Australian Embassy announced on Thursday.

Manildra's chief executive officer Dick Honan said the initial shipments of wheat flour had departed on four different vessels from the port of Sydney this week and would arrive in several Indonesian ports between late November and mid December.

Further shipments will be arriving periodically over the next few months, he said.

"These shipments are an achievement for free market forces and thus the availability of cheaper basic foodstuffs for the Indonesian people," Honan said.

He did not mention the amount of the wheat imports or the Indonesian importers.

The government removed its subsidy on wheat flour and the State Logistics Agency's monopoly to import the commodity in September as part of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund. General importers are now allowed to import wheat flour. (gis)