Beware, 500 Thousand Tons of Thai Rice to Pakistan Entering Indonesia in January 2024

"Beware, 500 Thousand Tons of Thai Rice Entering Indonesia from Pakistan in January 2024"

Beware, 500 Thousand Tons of Thai Rice to Pakistan Entering Indonesia in January 2024

"Perum Bulog is close to achieving the rice import target of 1.5 million tons for the year 2023, with 1 million tons already arrived in Indonesia. An import agreement for 500 thousand tons has been reached with several countries by this state-owned enterprise."

"Bayu Krisnamurthi, the President Director of Perum Bulog, explained that the rice imports come from Indonesia's trading partner countries such as Thailand, Vietnam, Pakistan, and partly from Myanmar."

"After the contract is agreed upon, the delivery of staple food supplies to Indonesia will be carried out in stages, starting from January 2024."

"We have planned for a gradual entry into Indonesia to begin in January, according to the existing needs," said Bayu Krisnamurthi, President Director of Perum Bulog.

"Bayu is worried that the price of rice in Indonesia will suddenly spike due to the simultaneous arrival of rice imports from four countries. This could cause the rice stock in the warehouse to exceed its capacity."

"If imports are done quickly and in large quantities, the risk of our warehouse being full increases. Rice prices may rise due to storage costs and warehouse management. Therefore, it is better to import gradually according to needs," said Bayu.

"Bayu is grateful because Perum Bulog has the status of a stakeholder enterprise, allowing them to engage in business contracts with foreign entities both in a business-to-business (B2B) model and between governments (G2G)."

"The price of rice in Indonesia has increased, despite a decrease of 6.5 percent in rice prices worldwide."

The Minister of Finance, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, revealed that the price of rice in the domestic market has increased by 21%, making this commodity one of the drivers of inflation in Indonesia this year. Sri Mulyani stated that besides rice, there are other commodities such as chili and garlic that have also experienced price increases and contributed to the inflation rate. Interestingly, even though global rice prices have decreased by 6.5%, Sri Mulyani attributes this decline to the uncertainty of commodity prices.

He expressed that global geopolitical challenges have led to a significant decline in the prices of several crucial commodities for Indonesia. Some examples include a decrease in brent oil prices by 14.6%, natural gas by 43.7%, coal by 63.8%, CPO (Crude Palm Oil) by 14.8%, wheat by 23.4%, soybeans by 4.9%, and rice by 6.5%.

"Overall, several important commodities for Indonesia have experienced significant adjustments,"

"Sri Mulyani, Minister of Finance"

"The price of rice is expected to decrease in March 2024."

The influence of the El Nino phenomenon has caused rice prices in Indonesia to experience a significant increase. According to data from the National Food Agency as of December 15, the price of medium-grade rice has reached Rp13,220 per kilogram.

Harga beras diperkirakan akan mengalami penurunan pada bulan Maret 2024.

To control rice prices, Bulog has carried out market operations or Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) actions in September. At that time, Perum Bulog set the price of rice for Supply and Price Stabilization (SPHP) at Rp54,500 for a 5 kg package, an increase of Rp7,500 from the previous price of Rp47,000 per 5 kg. This price remains in effect until December.

In response to this situation, Tomi Wijaya, the Public Relations and Institutional Manager of Perum Bulog, hopes that rice prices in 2024 can return to normal levels, which is around Rp10,000 for premium quality.

"Now it is still Rp12,000 - Rp13,000, we hope it can be around Rp10,000," said Tomi, at the Bulog office, Friday (15/12/2023)."

"The estimated decline in rice prices is caused by the anticipation of a bountiful harvest scheduled for March 2024. In addition, the completeness of rice stocks is also obtained from rice imports that have been contracted at the end of 2023."

"Basically, when March arrives and the harvest season begins, we will focus on domestic production first. The decision to make additional imports will depend on domestic conditions and regulatory policies," he stated."

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