Indonesian firms to stop wheat imports from Australia
Indonesian firms to stop wheat imports from Australia
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian companies have agreed to stop
importing wheat from Australia due to tension in bilateral
relations between the two countries, an executive said on
Thursday.
"To maintain our supply, we have decided to shift our wheat
imports to other countries due to the political tension between
Australia and Indonesia," said Bustanil Arifin, the chief
commissioner of wheat importer PT Sriboga Raturay and a former
chief of the State Logistics Agency.
Sriboga said all wheat importers agreed at a meeting on
Wednesday night to stop importing from Australia to ensure the
continuity of their wheat supply in case relations between the
two countries further deteriorated.
Sriboga, which operates a flour mill in Semarang, imports
around 450,000 metric tons of wheat annually from the Australian
Wheat Board.
Indonesia imports a total of 5.5 million tons of wheat
annually, of which 2.7 million tons comes from Australia, the
company said.
"Sriboga has decided to stop importing wheat from Australia
beginning today," he said.
He said he was disappointed with the arrogant attitude of the
Australian government in its approach to East Timor.
Bustanil said other countries such as the United State of
America, Europe, India and China were eager to fill the gap left
by Australia.
"Wheat is abundantly available on the international market,"
he said, adding that Indonesia would have no difficulty securing
imports from other countries.
He said Sriboga currently had 60,000 tons of wheat, enough for
its flour production until the end of the year.
There are four wheat importers in Indonesia: PT Sriboga
Raturaya, PT Bogasari Flour Mills, PT Berdikari Flour Mills and
PT Citra Persada.
Bogasari, the largest of the four, suffered a delay in its
wheat delivery from Australia last week when 40,000 tons of its
wheat was stranded at an Australian port by the Australian union
boycott.
Australian unions boycotted goods leaving for and coming from
Indonesia for a week in an effort to pressure the Indonesian
government into restoring order in East Timor.
The unions halted the boycott last weekend, but threatened to
reimpose it if Indonesia restricted the multinational
peacekeeping force in East Timor. (02)