Australia ships wheat to RI

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)