Indonesia rice imports reach record level
Indonesia rice imports reach record level
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's rice imports during the first half
(April-September) of the current fiscal year were valued at
US$239.7 million, the highest level for more than a decade.
Speaking in a hearing with Commission VII (on agriculture and
forestry) of the House of Representatives yesterday, chairman of
the National Logistics Agency (Bulog) Beddu Amang pointed out
that the government had to import rice to overcome the supply
shortage in the domestic market and to stabilize prices.
"Bulog will continue to rely primarily on local production for
its stocks. But if local procurement does not meet our target, we
have to import from foreign countries," said Beddu at the
hearing.
He said that last year Bulog's rice procurement was only
918,925 tons, the lowest since 1984, after which Indonesia
became self-sufficient in rice.
"The low procurement was due to the decline in production in
1993 and 1994 and because many farmers preferred to sell their
production on the open market at higher prices," he said.
Beddu said the country expects to import about two million
tons of rice during the current fiscal year.
Rice consumption in Indonesia -- the world's fourth most
populous country with about 195 million people -- has been
increasing over the last three years because of a population
growth of 1.6 percent per year and the increasing per capita
income.
According to Beddu, bad weather, recent floods in several
rice-producing areas and problems with fertilizer distribution
could affect rice production during the next fiscal year, which
will begin in April.
Sugar
Turning to sugar, he said that the country's production in
1996 is expected to reach 1994's level of 2.5 million tons.
He stated that Indonesia's sugar production dropped by 14
percent in 1995 due to bad weather. As a result the country will
have to import some 137,000 tons of sugar in January and 20,000
tons in February.
Last year, Indonesia had to import 400,000 tons of sugar.
The value of sugar imports during the period of January to
August last year rose to US $126.1 million from US $34.5 million
in the same period of 1994.
He said that the rise in value resulted particularly from the
increasing prices of sugar on the world market.
He noted that Bulog had also prepared large supplies of
vegetables, spices, beef, chicken and eggs to meet the rising
demand during the current fasting month and the coming Idul Fitri
holiday.
At yesterday's hearing, members of the commission expressed
their concern over the increasing imports of essential
commodities.
They urged that the government should improve its food
management, particularly in rice, which is the main staple food
of the vast majority of Indonesians. Otherwise, imports will
continue.
"The increasing food imports will certainly further drain our
foreign exchange," said H.E. Sumitomo, a commission member of the
Golkar faction.
He warned the government that the food problem could easily be
turned into a political issue that will be detrimental to the
country's stability.
"We still remember how the worsening food supply played into
the hands of the now defunct Indonesian Communist Party which led
to an attempted coup (in September 1965)," he noted.
Beddu said the government has taken several steps to tackle
the issue. "We have been conducting research to identify problems
faced by each of the essential commodities," he said.
Bulog, for example, has been in cooperation with the research
department of the University of Agriculture in Bogor to
investigate the problem of chili, which recently saw its price
shoot up to almost Rp 20,000 (US$8.7) a ton from Rp 3,000 last
November.
"To cope with the seasonal shortage of chili, Bulog and PT
Indofood (controlled by Soedono Salim) plan to establish chili
plantations," Beddu added. (13)
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