Clove prices skyrocket

JAKARTA (JP): Central Sulawesi clove farmers have failed to benefit from a 20-year high price of Rp 50,000 (US$7.46) per kilogram over the past week, from as low as Rp 2,500 in early 1998, due to low output.

Chief of the local plantation ministry office Suminto Tjiptosuharjo said only five million clove trees remained in Buol Tolitoli district, the largest producer of the spice in the province, after millions of other trees died from neglect and dehydration in recent years.

"Very low prices in the past discouraged farmers from tending their crops," Suminto was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday.

Local clove production is estimated at only 5,000 tons, or about half of the district's output in the early 1990s, he said.

Yunus M. Hamid, chief of the local trade and industry office, said most of the output was bought by traders from North Sulawesi who exported it to the Philippines.

Yunus attributed the steep price rise partly to the increase in exports to the Philippines.(01)