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Sales drop as rising prices of oranges, chicken meat cripple Jakarta traders
The increase was mainly a result of breeders' decision to raise the price of broiler chickens nationwide in February, according to the Indonesian People's Poultry Association's (Pinsar) Central Java branch.
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Anda Juanda, a 57-year-old fruit trader at Palmerah Market in West Jakarta tends to his fruits on Thursday as he waits for customers. (Jakarta Post/Dzulfiqar Fathur Rahman)
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nda Juanda, a 57-year-old fruit trader at Palmerah Market in West Jakarta, increased the prices of his oranges to Rp 25,000 (US$1.75) per kilogram from Rp 20,000 in January. He offered the smaller ones for Rp 20,000 per kg, a rise from Rp 15,000, as supply has dropped after orange farmers in Medan failed to have a harvest.
Since the price hike, Anda's sales have fallen by 40 percent to 30 kg per day in the January-February period from 50 kg per day. He decided to reduce his orange purchase in a bid to minimize his losses.
"Customers asked me why the prices have increased,” Anda, who has been selling at the market for 27 years, said on Thursday. "We sell them at higher prices because the suppliers' raised their prices. If we sell them as usual, we would not make a profit."
Anda's decision to increase his orange prices was in line with last month's upward trend in the average price of oranges in Jakarta, which rose by 0.94 percent to Rp 32,341 per kg from Rp 29,544 per kg, data from Statistics Indonesia's (BPS) Jakarta shows.
The increase in orange prices was the second-highest driver of Jakarta's inflation in February. Out of the 0.27 percent monthly inflation rate, the rising prices of oranges accounted for 0.05 percent, according to data released on Monday by BPS Jakarta.
Jakarta's inflation rate in February slightly increased from 0.25 percent in January but was still lower than that of Bekasi, West Java, which stood at 0.38 percent. Tangerang in Banten booked the lowest inflation rate at 0.21 percent.
The price for broiler meat also showed a sharp increase in February, making it the highest driver of Jakarta's inflation last month. It rose by 4.15 percent to Rp 38,638 in February from Rp 37,099 in January.
