Price of sugar expected to increase

JAKARTA: Sugar prices are expected to increase this month due to international price increases and a reduction in domestic supplies.

Sugar prices usually experience a seasonal hike during Christmas and New Year’s. The price may reach US$800 a ton by December of this year.

“If sugar prices get that high, the price of imported sugar can reach Rp 10,500 ($1.17) per kilogram. At that point, the public will pay about Rp 11,500 per kilogram,” Indonesian Sugar and Flour Traders Association head Natsir Mansyur said, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The government set a production target of 2.7 million tons of sugar for this month.

Natsir was pessimistic that the target would be met, saying that national production would reach about 2 million tons of sugar. — JP