A company in Riau Islands has seen its live pig exports to Singapore double after Malaysia imposed a COVID-19 lockdown on March 18.

The Tanjung Pinang Agricultural Quarantine Office said on Tuesday that Indonesian pig-farming company PT Indotirta Suaka had exported up to 1,600 live pigs to the city state every day. Previously, the company only exported 700 to 900 pigs daily.

“Prior to the lockdown, the demand for live pigs was fulfilled by companies in Malaysia and Indonesia. Now, the demand has shifted to Indonesia,” the quarantine office head, Donni Muksidayan, said on Tuesday.

Malaysia has enforced a partial lockdown, which has restricted people’s movement, in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

Despite the lockdown, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin had previously reassured his Singaporean counterpart Lee Hsien Loong that the flow of goods and cargo between Singapore and Malaysia, including food supplies, would continue, The Straits Times reported.

Read also: Indonesia to relax restrictions to speed up imports, exports amid virus threat

Donni said all live pigs exported to the neighboring country were healthy and met Singapore’s standards. The office granted on Sunday health certificates for 1,653 pigs worth Rp 5.17 billion (US$315,138) to be exported to Singapore.

"We share this information to encourage farmers during the sluggish trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic," Donni said.

Indotirta Suaka manager Tony Budiharjo did not respond to The Jakarta Post’s request for comment.

The company supplies around 30 percent of Singapore’s total demand for live pigs.

The office recorded that 304,509 live pigs valued at around Rp 130.53 billion had been exported last year with – an increase of 30 percent from 2018’s figure of 233,699 pigs worth Rp 61.72 billion. (vny)