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Businesses urge more imports to fill meat supply gap
Local cattle breeders project a large beef deficit this year and suggest shipments from abroad to bolster domestic stocks.
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A quarantine officer inspects a herd of cattle in June 2023 aboard the Barokah Jaya in Kalbut Port, Situbondo, East Java. (Antara/Seno)
Local cattle breeders project a large beef deficit this year and urge additional meat imports to bolster domestic stocks.
The Indonesian Beef Cattle Businesses Association (Gapuspindo) forecasts a nationwide shortfall of 453,000 tonnes or 2.5 million heads of cattle.
“If the government does not import feeder cattle, we predict that in the next four years, the cow and buffalo populations will die out,” Gapuspindo executive director Djoni Liano was quoted as saying by Bisnis.com on Tuesday.
Djoni said the cow and bull population in the country remained limited at 11.3 million heads, while buffaloes numbered 470,900. Taking into account the population structures, Djoni estimated that only 281,640 tonnes of meat could be produced for consumption.
Bisnis.com cited government data projecting per-capita beef consumption of 2.57 kilograms this year, which equated to aggregate consumption of around 720,000 tonnes when multiplied by the country’s population.
Djoni said the government should grant higher import quotas, especially for feeder cattle, since that would allow for more value to be created in the domestic market where the animals could be fattened over two or three months.
He went on to say that the beef cattle businesses under Gapuspindo’s banner had secured import licenses on Feb.
