Clove stock piles up to 300,000 tons

Clove stock piles up to 300,000 tons

JAKARTA (JP): The national stock of cloves, held by the Clove Buffer Stock and Marketing Management Company (BPPC) and the Federation of Provincial Associations of Village Cooperative Units (Inkud) last year was estimated at 300,000 tons worth Rp 1.5 trillion.

Chairman of the Central Java Association of Village Cooperative Units (Puskud), Tajjudin Noer Aly told Antara in Semarang yesterday that every year the clove stock is estimated to increase by 20,000 tons.

He pointed out that national clove production averaged 100,000 tons per year while the demand, mostly from cigarette manufacturers, was only 80,000 tons per year.

"That's the latest development in the national clove stock I've got. And I've informed Inkud and village cooperative units (KUD) in Central Java, one of the major clove suppliers in the country," he noted.

He refused to give any further details.

Asked why many payments to clove farmers were in arrears, he said that it was due to a lack of funds in Puskud and the village cooperative units.

He said that Puskud had been asked to get loans from banks to pay the farmers, but banks were unwilling to loan money based on poor profits of only Rp 50 per kilogram of cloves.

"Puskud, therefore, has to rely on cash provided by Inkud and BPPC for financing its purchases from the village cooperatives," he noted. (13)