Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto said on Friday the ministry had received a horticulture products import recommendation (RPIH) to import 90,000 tons of garlic, and would issue the import license for garlic in a matter of days.

The decision came following a meeting with Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto and other related ministries and agencies in Jakarta.

“At the meeting we decided to expedite staple product imports. We will improve interagency coordination [to speed up the process]”, he said.

The decision was made in response to rising prices of staple ingredients. According to the Information Center for Strategic Food Prices (PIHPS), the price of garlic currently stands at Rp 46,000 (US$3.61) per kilogram, almost double the usual Rp 25,000 to Rp 30,000 per kg. Meanwhile, the local sugar price stood at Rp 16,000 per kg, above the usual Rp 12,000 to Rp 14,000.

Rising garlic prices pushed up the volatile food inflation rate to 6.68 percent in February and the inflation rate to 2.98 percent from 2.68 percent in January, according to Statistics Indonesia (BPS).

Indonesia produces 85,000 tons of garlic annually, which equates to only 10 percent of domestic demand. As such, the country has long relied on garlic imports from China, the world’s leading garlic producer.

Read also: Garlic stock will only suffice until April without Chinese imports

Last year, Indonesia imported around 465,000 tons of garlic with an import value of nearly US$530 million, BPS data shows. In 2018, Indonesia imported 582,994 tons of garlic, of which 580,845 tons came from China.

Talk in the market suggests the garlic price surge has been caused by diminishing supplies from China due to the coronavirus outbreak and the severe drought that hit Indonesia in 2019. However, the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has dismissed these claims, arguing that the cause of the scarcity was slow import realization, which had been a problem before the virus outbreak.

Read also: Rising garlic price cannot be blamed on coronavirus: Business watchdog

Food Resilience Agency (BKP) head Agung Hendriadi previously said that the government was seeking to import garlic from countries other than China, as the COVID-19 outbreak had pummeled the country’s trade and economic activity.

The pneumonia-like illness has infected more than 106,000 people and killed more than 3,600 around the world.

Agung warned that Indonesia’s garlic stocks had fallen to 80,000 tons as of Feb. 27. With the country consuming 46,000 tons of garlic per month on average, current stocks will suffice until only April.

The 90,000 ton import recommendation for garlic is higher than the previous import permit letters issued by the ministry for 62,000 tons, but still below the 103,000 tons recommended by the Agriculture Ministry.

Besides garlic, imports of buffalo meat and sugar are also to be expedited, the State Logistics Agency’s (Bulog) business and industrial development director Bachtiar said.

“We are planning to import around 25,000 tons of buffalo meat, which will enter the market in April,” he said.

Bachtiar claimed that according to Bulog’s records, 1,000 tons of meat remained in stock, which would be enough to supply the market until the imported meat arrived.

Bulog’s also received an import quota of 29,750 tons for raw sugar, as local supplies of white crystallized sugar have begun to dwindle.

The severe drought of 2019 caused delays to the sugar cane milling period, which has disrupted market supplies.

“We also received an import quota for 29,750 tons of raw sugar, and will announce the tender for sugar import immediately,” Bachtiar said. The sugar will be imported from neighboring countries such as Australia, India and Thailand, he added.

In total, the government plans to import more than 400,000 tons of raw sugar to meet local demand, Agus said.

Read also: Indonesia may import extra 130,000 tons of sugar from India to meet demand

The price of sugar in traditional markets had shot up to Rp 15,800 per kg as of Friday according to the PIHPS, exceeding the consumer reference price of Rp 12,500 stipulated under Trade Ministerial Regulation No.7/2020 on reference prices.

While the price of sugar continues to rise, the prices of garlic and beef have decreased slightly recently from the high levels seen in February.

The price of garlic stood at Rp 45,700 per kg as of Friday after doubling to Rp 50,450 per kg from normal levels in February. The price of beef rose to Rp 117,800 per kg from Rp 118,100 in February, compared with normal levels of below Rp 110,000 per kg. (mpr/eyc)