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Indonesia can only import 346,000 tons of rice
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A worker shoulders a sack of rice taken from a warehouse at the Cipinang wholesaler rice market in East Jakarta on Jan. 19. (Antara/Sigid Kurniawan)
S
tate Logistics Agency (Bulog) procurement director Andrianto Wahyu Adi said on Monday the agency could only import 346,000 tons of rice or 69.2 percent of 500,000 tons planned import due to limited time.
"The shipment can only be implemented up to Feb. 28. So that amount is the best we can afford,” he added.
The eight winning bidders are Vinafood I and II from Vietnam, Ponglarp, Capital Cereal, Asia Golden from Thailand, Amir Chand from India, Al Buhks and Sind Agro from Pakistan.
Andrianto said Vinafood II and other suppliers from Thailand have signed the contracts on and before Monday. "For the other suppliers, we will complete [the contracts] today."
He could not stipulate when the imported rice would arrive, but added that each shipment would be 20,000 tons.
"We set the deadline for Feb. 28,” Andrianto said, adding that the ships from Thailand and Vietnam needed five days to arrive in Indonesia, while it would take between 14 and 16 days to arrive from Pakistan and India.
The price of rice in Jakarta was Rp 13,950 (US$1.05) per kilogram or 17.7 percent higher than the price in September, according to data from Bank Indonesia’s price tracking website, hargapangan.id.
Meanwhile, the price increased by 13.3 and 14.7 percent to Rp 11,900 per kg and Rp 11,700 per kg in West and East Java, respectively. (srs/bbn)
