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Govt pledges for early imports to maintain meat prices
The government has pledged to step up efforts to prevent the uncontrollable price surge of meat products during the Ramadhan and Idul Fitri festivities this year by collecting more accurate data on market demand and maintaining supply through early imports
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he government has pledged to step up efforts to prevent the uncontrollable price surge of meat products during the Ramadhan and Idul Fitri festivities this year by collecting more accurate data on market demand and maintaining supply through early imports.
“We’ve assigned Bulog [State Logistics Agency] to guarantee stocks are safe until Lebaran [end of Ramadhan month]. We’re ready [to import] however much the amount is,” Trade Minister Enggartiasto “Enggar” Lukita said Thursday during an inspection of a traditional market in Jakarta.
Enggar explained that for now, many regions, particularly Jakarta, were still dependent on imports until local cattle populations could sufficiently meet the national demand.
Last year, the price of beef surged by almost double its normal price during the Ramadhan fasting month due to late import permit issuance. The government then borrowed more than 5,000 tons of industrial beef and immediately imported buffalo meat from India in an effort to stabilize the price.
This year, Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation, expects to see the beginning of Ramadhan in late May. The Idul Fitri celebration, meanwhile, will follow in the subsequent month.
Government data shows that the country will need around 209,500 tons of buffalo meat from free-disease zones in India, frozen beef from Australia, Spain and elsewhere, as well as feeder and live cattle from Australia in addition to local supplies to meet meat product demands during the May-June period.
Enggar said Bulog planned to import 30,000 tons of buffalo meat this year, while private and state importers were in the process of applying permits to bring in more frozen beef and feeder cattle.
Buffalo meat, he said, would be bundled at Rp 65,000 (US$4.85) per kilogram and frozen beef at Rp 80,000 per kg to stabilize meat prices. Fresh beef, meanwhile, is targeted to stay at a maximum of Rp 120,000 per kg.
Both meats will be distributed by Bulog and the Indonesian Meat Distributors Association (ADDI) in Jakarta first and foremost.
“We’d like to ensure that stocks and prices are alright in Jakarta first because it has the highest meat consumption, but we’ll see if necessary. We’ll also distribute the imported meat to other regions too,” Enggar said.
Average meat consumption in Jakarta stands at 8 kg per capita, four times higher than the national figure, government data shows.
Demand for beef and buffalo meat in Indonesia currently stands at a total of 56,500 tons per month, with the majority coming from the Greater Jakarta area. Ninety percent of the demand in the capital is fulfilled from imports.
Indonesia Feedlot Association (Apfindo) executive director Joni Liano lauded the government’s attempt to prevent the price surge, which usually happens before, during and after Ramadhan.
He also applauded the introduction of a new online platform that allows faster import permit issuance and more accurate calculations of meat volume needed.
“Through the platform, importers only need to submit their import request online to the Agriculture Ministry. Once approved, we’ll have to let the Trade Ministry know about the amount of cattle approved and when they arrive here,” he said.
