Bulog says rice reserves enough for seven months

Bulog says rice reserves enough for seven months

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) said on Friday it had enough
rice reserves to maintain price stability at home amid rising
uncertainty on the international market as a result of the war in
Iraq.

Bulog chairman Widjanarko Puspoyo said that the agency's rice
reserves of about 1.4 million tons was enough for seven months.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a workshop, he said
that the above figure had taken into account some 500,000 tons of
rice imports from Thailand and Vietnam.

"We have secured contracts to import some 500,000 tons of rice
to anticipate the impact of the war in Iraq," he said, adding
that 300,000 tons would come from Thailand and the remaining
200,000 tons from Vietnam.

Bulog's main mission is to ensure the stability of rice prices
on the domestic market. If the price increases for whatever
reason, including harvest failure or market speculation, Bulog
releases its reserves to stabilize the price, and vice versa.

Rice is a politically sensitive commodity here as it is the
main staple of the country's more than 200 million people.

Widjanarko acknowledged that it was now getting more difficult
and expensive to purchase rice on the international market as
other countries were also boosting their reserves due to the
uncertainty created by the Iraq war.

He expected the war would not drag on for more than seven
months.

The country's unhusked rice output is expected to reach some
52 million tons this year. This is roughly equal to 30 million
tons of rice.

Bulog normally holds a buffer stock of around 3 million tons,
both purchased on the local and international markets.

Indonesia briefly achieved self-sufficiency in rice in 1984,
but is now one of the biggest rice importers in the world.

Meanwhile, Minister of Trade and industry Rini M. Soewandi
said the country would have an adequate sugar supply over the
next five weeks without having to import as sugarcane milling had
just started.

"The sugar supply will be secure for the next five months as
sugarcane milling will be underway at home," Rini told reporters.

The country's sugarcane milling normally starts in April and
May.

But just in case, Rini said the country would import sugar
from India and Thailand to help ensure adequate supplies at home.

"We will discuss the transportation problem with the shipping
association to ensure the shipments arrive here," she said.

There have been worries that the war in Iraq would make
importing sugar more difficult.

Indonesia is one of the world's top sugar importers, absorbing
around 1.6 million tons last year.

The country's total sugar production is currently 1.7 million
tons with annual consumption amounting to about 3.3 million tons.

Indonesia imported 2.1 million tons of sugar in 1999, 1.2
million tons in 2000 and about 1.6 million tons in 2001.

The ministry has authorized three state-owned plantation
companies and PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia to import sugar to
meet the country's needs and help increase the price of the
commodity at the grower level.

Aside from the four companies, many private sector companies
also illegally import sugar for the domestic market, but no data
is available on these imports.