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Indonesia doubles beef imports to 27,000 tons ahead of Ramadhan
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A meat vendor at a traditional market carries out work to absorb strong consumer demand ahead of the fasting month of Ramadhan. (ANTARA/Agung Rajasa)
T
he Trade Ministry has announced a beef import quota of 27,400 tons, far above the Agriculture Ministry’s recommendation of 10,000 tons, to curb rising prices in local markets.
The policy is a follow up to President Joko Widodo’s instruction to reduce beef prices from Rp 110,000 (US$8) to 80,000 per kilogram ahead of Ramadhan, which will start next week.
Trade Minister Thomas Lembong said the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) held an import quota for 10,000 tons of beef, state-owned firm Berdikari 5,000 tons, Jakarta administration-owned firm Darmajaya 500 tons, with the remainder for private importers.
“We will import the beef from various countries,” he said in Jakarta on Tuesday. He refused to mention the countries but said that Indonesia wanted to diversify beef-import sources from places other than Australia.
Ramadhan and Idul Fitri are two major Islamic religious events in Indonesia during which demand for staple foods and other products usually soar.
To maintain reasonable prices at the consumer level and improve farmers' welfare, the government has set minimum farmers’ selling prices. Onions have been set at Rp 15,000 per kg, medium-quality rice at Rp 7,300, and sugar at Rp 9,100.
The government has asked two state-owned companies, PT Perkebunan Nusantara and PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia, to import 381,000 tons of raw sugar to be processed into refined sugar.
In a joint press briefing with Agriculture Minister Amran Sulaiman and the trade minister, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said the government expected to see food prices decrease by the end of the first week of Ramadhan.
“We are committed to maintaining the stability of staple food supplies and prices, especially onion, rice, sugar and beef during Ramadhan,” she said. (sha/ags)
