Luhut sees no problem with food supplies for holidays
Luhut sees no problem with food supplies for holidays
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut B.
Panjaitan gave assurances on Friday that stocks of food supplies,
such as rice, sugar, beef, and cooking oil, were sufficient to
meet the expected surge in demand over the Christmas, Idul Fitri,
and New Year holidays.
"As you've heard, our food stocks are sufficient to get us
through the holidays. If there should happen to be any shortfalls
it will be mainly due to disruption of the distribution system as
a result of bad weather," he said after a meeting with food
suppliers at his office.
He said that bad weather and heavy rain might continue over
the coming weeks and could disrupt the distribution of food
supplies in several parts of the country.
"Heavy winds in the east of Indonesia have also caused
difficulties for ships carrying cattle to Java," Luhut said.
He asked the police, the Ministry of Transport and
Communications, as well as the Ministry of Settlement and
Regional Infrastructure to coordinate their efforts and
immediately resolve any distribution problems.
Chairman of the Indonesian Food and Beverages Association
(Gapmmi) Thomas Darmawan said producers would not be operating
between Dec. 22 and Jan. 8.
"They will make up for the break in production by producing
more food and beverages in advance," he explained at the meeting.
Thomas said that most supermarkets would remain open over the
holidays with a few opening in the afternoon on Idul Fitri.
He assured consumers that the price of foodstuffs in
supermarkets would remain stable despite the buying spree that
usually takes place several days before the long year-end
holidays. But he said that the price of foodstuffs in traditional
markets was outside of his control.
Producers of cooking oil claimed that the price of branded
cooking oil would remain stable during the holidays, but non-
branded cooking oil prices were liable to increase if the dealers
took advantage of the higher demand.
Luhut said that the price of non-branded cooking oil surveyed
in Jakarta markets ranged between Rp 3,400 ($0.37) a liter in
September to Rp 3,180 a liter on Nov. 30.
Chairman of the Indonesian Beef Producers and Feedlot
Association (Apfindo) Yudi Guntara Noor said that the price of
beef in Java may rise during the holidays because of a drop in
local beef production.
The association, which supplies only imported beef, or about
20 percent to 30 percent of the total beef supply, claimed that
price levels at the slaughterhouses had not changed.
"The price of high quality beef from the slaughterhouse is Rp
28,000 a kilogram. If newspaper reports say it is higher, then it
has been increased by the retailers," he said.
Yudi added that the association had supplied 30,000 head of
cattle to cover this month's demand, twice the usual monthly
supply.
National beef consumption needed a supply of about 1.45
million head of cattle per year, comprising 1.2 million local and
250,000 imported beasts, Yudi said, adding that each beast
yielded about 200 kilograms of edible meat.
"There are indications that local beef production has dropped
because of the difficulties in transporting animals due to high
winds in eastern Indonesia," he said, adding that local beef was
supplied from ranches in West Nusatenggara, East Nusatenggara,
South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, and North Sulawesi.
Yudi said that because of the drop in supply, customers were
turning to imported beef as an alternative.
"But the supply of imported beef won't be able to cover the
shortfall in the local beef supply," he said.
The National Logistics Agency (Bulog) reported more than 1.36
million tons of rice stored in warehouses around the country as
of Nov. 30, with about 146,000 tons in Jakarta alone.
This would be enough to last for more than six months, the
agency said.
National Sugar Council executive Sutoyo said that the national
sugar supply for this year's holidays had increased 12 percent to
about 1.68 million tons compared to last year. This figure
comprised some 600,000 tons of remaining stocks and more than one
million tons of previously imported sugar.
"This will be enough to last four months," he said.
The Indonesian Poultry Association warned that the price of
hen eggs may rise gradually over the next few weeks, peaking on
Idul Fitri at about 15 percent higher than the normal price.
In order to anticipate any difficulties in distribution, the
Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications has prepared 20
ships from the state-owned shipping line PT Pelni as an
alternative to sending goods overland.
The Ministry of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure has
stationed heavy machinery in avalanche-prone areas, and provided
pumps for roads liable to flooding.
"The areas that will have to be monitored carefully are the
roads on the north and south coasts of Java and the trans-Sumatra
highway," Luhut said. (tnt)