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RI to import 125,000 tonnes of sugar to calm local price
ID Food plans to import the remaining 125,000 tonnes of the government's sugar quota this year in an effort to calm the retail price for the commodity, which recorded a 7.76 percent rise in early October.
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State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister Erick Thohir (left) visits state-owned sugar company Industri Gula Glenmore (IGG) on Sept. 18 2021 in Banyuwangi, East Java, accompanied by Muhammad Abdul Ghani, president director of IGG’s parent company PTPN XII. (State-owned enterprises (SOEs) Ministry/Public relation teams)
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tate-owned holding company ID Food plans to import 125,000 tonnes of sugar to calm the surge in the commodity's domestic price .
ID Food said it had obtained a loan totaling Rp 1.5 trillion (US$95.97 million) from state-owned banks to execute its plan, which also aimed to anticipate the end of the sugar milling season in November.
"We will realize the rest of government's order to import 250,000 tonnes of sugar this year, as we have only used half of [the quota]. We will use [the imported sugar] to secure the domestic stock," ID Food president director Frans Marganda Tambunan said on Wednesday, as quoted by Tempo.
According to Frans, the country faced an annual deficit of 800,000 tonnes in the domestic sugar supply, so it still needed to import stock from other countries.
The government has fewer options for import sources this year, however, as India has imposed a ban on its sugar exports until next year, leaving only Brazil and Thailand as the potential sources.
India contributes around 30 percent of Indonesia’s annual sugar imports.
Frans said ID Food had opted to import sugar from Brazil instead of Thailand, because the specifications for Brazilian sugar more closely matched Indonesian demand. But he expected a longer delivery time due to geographical distance.
