Govt to import more sugar

Govt to import more sugar

JAKARTA: Indonesia, the world's biggest importer of refined sugar, will allow companies to buy an extra 200,000 metric tons of the sweetener from Thailand to plug domestic shortages, Trade Minister Mari Pangestu said.

Legislation enabling the imports, to arrive by March, is being completed, Pengestu told reporters in Jakarta. The government earlier allowed 300,000 tons of sugar to be imported, of which 250,000 tons has already arrived.

"Our estimation is that there is a need for about 160,000 tons" by March in provinces outside the country's most-populous island of Java, Pangestu said. "We have decided that we will have to import some more" white sugar, she said.

Indonesia's need to import sugar will fade after April, when domestic supplies enter the local market, Pangestu said. -- Bloomberg