Bulog CEO: Rice packaging secure amid plastic pellet shortage concerns
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Perum Bulog’s Director General Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani has assured that the availability of rice packaging remains secure amid concerns over a shortage of plastic pellets resulting from the global geopolitical situation in the Middle East region.
“Fortunately, Bulog still has stock to meet the plastic needs,” Rizal said when met after a meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Tuesday.
Rizal explained that issues related to plastic raw materials currently fall under the purview of the Ministry of Industry, so further technical explanations are outside Bulog’s authority.
Nevertheless, Bulog has confirmed that it currently holds sufficient stock of plastic packaging to meet operational needs for distributing rice to the public.
He emphasised that the majority of Bulog’s products are public service obligation (PSO) programmes aimed at serving the people, making the continuity of distribution a top priority.
He noted that the stock of rice packaging is still adequate to support upcoming distributions, although he did not specify the exact amount of available reserves.
“As our products are mostly PSO items, the rice is for the people, not for sale. And, praise be to God, we still have stock (of rice packaging) for now,” he stated.
That said, Bulog is also beginning to prepare anticipatory measures to address potential disruptions in plastic raw material supplies in the future to prevent any impact on distribution.
Regarding the SPHP rice programme with 2-kilogram packaging, Rizal assured that procurement is proceeding as planned from the start of the fiscal year.
He explained that packaging procurement contracts were made at the beginning of the year, so the programme’s implementation is not affected by current developments.
“Well, that’s already contracted; they contracted according to the year. Usually, programmes start at the beginning of the year. It’s contracted from the start of the year,” he clarified.
With this situation, Bulog is optimistic that rice distribution to the public will continue smoothly and stably amid various dynamics affecting the supporting industrial sector.
The state-owned food company has been tasked with distributing rice under the Food Supply and Price Stabilisation Programme (SPHP) throughout 2026, with a target of 828,000 tonnes, to maintain national rice availability and price stability.
The programme is distributed in 5-kilogram packaging, including ongoing designs for 2-kilogram packaging to make it more accessible to lower and middle-class communities.
Bulog has also been assigned to distribute food aid in the form of rice and cooking oil to 33.2 million beneficiary families (KPM) for the February and March 2026 allocation. Each KPM will receive 20 kilograms of rice and 4 litres of MinyaKita brand cooking oil.
Distribution was temporarily postponed to maintain price stability during Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr but resumed at the end of March and is targeted to be completed by the end of April this year.