RI delays rice imports from Thailand

RI delays rice imports from Thailand

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Chairman of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Widjanarko Puspoyo said on Wednesday the planned rice import from Thailand would not materialize this year as the two countries had yet to reach agreement over a US$40 million barter deal.

He expected the rice import from Thailand would take place next year.

Indonesia and Thailand are planning a countertrade deal, under which the former would import a total of 200,000 tons of rice from the latter in exchange for one CN-235 aircraft, 122 train car units, and shipments of ammonia, a chemical substance used in the production of fertilizer.

Minister of Trade and Industry Rini MS Soewandi had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the barter plan with her Thailand counterpart a few months ago.

Of the 200,000 tons of rice to be swapped, some 100,000 tons had been expected to materialize this year.

But Widjanarko said that the countertrade plan had to be delayed as Thailand had yet to agree to the terms.

"Thailand demands the condition of the airplane be upgraded first before it agrees to sign the deal," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the House of Representatives Commission III on agriculture, forestry and maritime.

He also said that Bulog had canceled plans to import rice from Cambodia because the price demanded by the latter country was deemed as too high.

"Cambodia wants to sell their rice at $230 per metric ton, but we think the price should be about $195 per metric ton. So we canceled it," he said.

But Widjanarko was quick to add that the lower rice import volume would not endanger the national rice stock.

Bulog had initially planned to import more than 1 million tons of rice this year.

Some 600,000 tons of rice would be imported from Vietnam, 250,000 tons from China, 100,000 tons from the U.S., 100,000 tons from Thailand and the remainder from Cambodia.

Widjanarko said that as of September, Bulog had imported 635,000 tons of rice from Vietnam and China.

Rice is the main staple of most Indonesians.