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AKARTA: Indonesia is aiming to boost its seaweed exports by 58 percent to 180,000 tons this year — expecting to earn revenues of US$190 million.

Indonesia secured $138 million from exporting 114,000 tons of seaweeds in 2010.

Secretary to the director general for fishery processing and marketing at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Victor Nikijuluw, said Friday the government was optimistic about the export target because global demand for seaweed was increasing.

He cited as an example how China alone now had 600 factories processing seaweed, adding, “Last year we supplied 85 percent of China’s seaweed needs.” Victor also said Indonesia could displace the market share presently held by Latin American countries because their production is presently down due to the impacts of La Nina.

The country’s seaweed capacity is expanding, with 2010 production volume reaching 3.08 million tons, exceeding the previous target of 2.6 million tons. Indonesia is targeting to produce up to 3.5 million tons of seaweed in 2011.

“With the increase in our production volumes, we’re optimistic the exports will increase as well,” Victor said, as quoted by kontan.co.id. — JP