T

he Trade Ministry has issued permits for the importation of 167,000 head of live cattle in the third quarter (Q3), which will help supplement meat supply during Idul Fitri.

Of that figure, around 80 percent will be feedlot cattle and the rest will be slaughter-ready cattle, according to Trade Ministry director general for foreign trade Bachrul Chairi.

'€œThe permit quota is in line with our import plan,'€ Bachrul said Friday.

The ministry did not issue any permits for the importation of productive heifers due to the absence of proposals, he added.

The quota for cattle import in Q3 is much lower than 286,100 head of the second quarter (Q2), which comprised 199,895 head of feedlot cattle, 81,205 head of slaughter-ready cattle and 5,000 head of heifers.

The government has set a sizeable cattle import quota for May-June in anticipation of a surge in demand throughout Ramadhan and Idul Fitri.

Feedlot cattle, which normally dominate imports, should be held at feedlots for three or four months until they are of a weight for slaughter.

Beef consumption in Indonesia, the world'€™s most populated Muslim-majority country, usually hits an annual high ahead of Idul Fitri, which this year will fall at the end of July, as well as during the proceeding one-month fasting period.

Without sufficient supply, the price of beef would soar, pushing up inflationary pressure.

Bachrul further said that between 120,000 and 150,000 head of live cattle would be slaughtered for Idul Fitri.

As of June 20, overall domestic stocks comprised 173,500 head of feedlot cattle; 18,000 head of slaughter-ready cattle; and 4,133 head of local live cattle when Q2 delivery arrived.

The government has vowed to maintain the price of beef below Rp 100,000 (US$8.34) per kilogram during Ramadhan and Idul Fitri.

Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi hinted that the government had mulled raising the reference beef price by 13 percent to Rp 85,000 per kilogram after Idul Fitri.

The reference price, which is currently settled at Rp 76,000 per kilogram, serves as a benchmark for policy makers to allow or halt imports.

'€œI hope the beef price stays at Rp 85,000 per kilogram and we'€™ll keep it at that level because it provides an incentive for local breeders to invest [in the breeding sector] again,'€ he said, adding that the expansion of local breeding would ease importation pressure.

Indonesia has in the past few years relied heavily on imports of live cattle, particularly from Australia, to cater to higher demand.

This year alone 750,000 head of live cattle will be imported.