Rice stocks sufficient for seven months: Bulog
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)