M

yanmar has agreed to sell up to 200,000 tons of rice a year to Indonesia under an agreement recently signed by the two parties to take effect in February, according to an industry association.

Myanmar Rice Industry Association (MRIA) secretary Ye Min Aung was quoted by Reuters as saying that between 100,000 tons and 200,000 tons of 5 percent broken rice would be sold to Indonesia
per year.

With the price of rice currently around US$500 per ton on the international market, the deal is potentially worth between $50 million and $100 million.

The association reportedly signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesian procurement agency Bulog in Yangon, Myanmar, on Saturday.

Last year, Bulog imported 1.9 million tons of rice from Thailand, Vietnam and India, with the next outstanding importation to arrive in February.

However, the government said earlier this month that it had no plans to import rice this year as there were sufficient stockpiles. The government said that it expected domestic production of staple-foods to rise, helped by improved weather conditions and a planned expansion of arable land.

Bulog chief Sutarto Alimoeso confirmed that stance on Sunday and said the agency had yet to decide on imports this year.

“For now, we still have made no decision on this year’s import. We will just complete the 1.9 million tons of rice from last year’s contracts,” he told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

According to Sutarto, the agency is still “seeking opportunities for imports” from Myanmar — as well as other countries, including Pakistan — as alternatives to key rice exporters Thailand and Vietnam.

Bulog said last December that it aimed to buy 4 million tons of rice, mostly from domestic farmers, to fulfill its stockpile target of 5.5 million tons.

The agency anticipated a distribution of 3.5 million tons of rice through market operations this year, which was set to curb price inflation, while at the same time keep at least 1.5 million tons as buffer stock.

The price of rice was the biggest contributor to last year’s overall headline inflation of 3.79 percent in Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous nation with around 240 million people.

Indonesia is currently the third-largest rice consumer, with a per capita annual intake of 139 kilograms.

Despite being self-sufficient in 2008 and 2009, the country began to import rice in 2010 after stockpiles dropped and harvests failed to meet targets.

Critics have pointed out that the government must be committed to relying on domestic production to achieve food security amidst potential declines in international food stocks.

The Agriculture Ministry has estimated that the production of unhusked rice will likely surge by 10.14 percent to 72.02 million tons this year — or equal to 40 million tons of husked rice — from 65.39 million tons last year as estimated by the Central Statistics Agency in its forecast last November.