U.S. cuts RI cacao prices

JAKARTA (JP): Cacao exporters in Southeast Sulawesi are losing at least Rp 28 billion (US$9.6 million) a year because of the mandatory cut in price of cacao exported to the United States.

The head of the provincial plantation office, Soewondo, said in the provincial capital Kendari Saturday, that the price cut or automatic detention was imposed on Indonesia's cacao by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1992 because the cacao did not meet U.S. standards.

He said the detention caused great losses to Indonesian cacao exporters.

Losses from the price cut have reached Rp 48 billion since the detention program was introduced.

He said his office in cooperation with other related-bodies, was trying to improve cacao quality by introducing a fermentation system in cacao processing.

Cacao plantations in Southeast Sulawesi cover about 70,000 hectares and produce 50,000 tons a year -- 25 percent of Indonesia's total production. (08)