Rice stocks sufficient for seven months: Bulog

JAKARTA (JP): The State Logistics Agency (Bulog) has 2.7 million metric tons of rice in its warehouses, sufficient to meet the nation's needs for six months to seven months, its chairman Rahardi Ramelan said on Saturday.

Rahardi, who is also the minister of industry and trade, was quoted by Antara as saying that Bulog's high stock level was the result of two successive good harvests this year, as well as supported by imports.

The successful harvests mean adequate supply to the market and relatively stable prices, Rahardi said, adding that Bulog has been spared from having to conduct market operations to stabilize prices the way it did last year.

The only market operations Bulog has had carried out since July is one specially designated for poor people who have been badly hurt by the economic crisis, he said.

Under this operation, rice is sold at Rp 1,000 per kg to intended recipients.

Rahardi said Bulog needs 220,000 tons a month for this operation.

Data from the Ministry of Industry and Trade shows that the average price of medium-quality rice in July was Rp 2,709.25 per kg, a 2.79 percent decrease from June. Consumers in Jayapura, Irian Jaya, have had to pay the highest at Rp 3,375, while people in Pekanbaru, Riau, paid the lowest at Rp 2,300 per kg, Antara reported.

The Central Bureau of Statistics has predicted that Indonesia's production of unhusked rice will reach 49.53 million tons in 1999, a 0.59 percent increase from 1998. This year's output will still be 3.07 percent lower than the record 51.10 million tons produced in 1996.

Rahardi said Indonesia will still have to import rice this year, partly to meet the domestic demand and partly to help maintain stable prices.

He declined to go into details of the amount and timing of imports, saying that Bulog would move cautiously because of the likely impact Indonesia would have on the world rice market.

Indonesia imported 4.8 million tons of rice in the 1998/1999 fiscal year ending March 31 because of a series of harvest failures largely attributed to bad weather.

Given the huge size of Indonesia's imports, the world rice market has a tendency to increase prices before the Indonesian government came to the market.

"It is not my intention to conceal information about the rice tender process, but such exposure would affect prices. If world rice prices increase, then it will hurt Bulog," he said.

In July, Bulog appointed IndSingThai Trading of Singapore and King Sun Co. of Hong Kong to supply a total 800,000 tons of rice from August to May. (02)