Workers watch a truck unload sugarcane at the PG Blora sugar mill (Source: Jakarta Post) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s State Logistics Agency (Bulog) is seeking the government’s approval to import 200,000 tonnes of sugar to stabilise prices during the Ramadan which will begin in late April.
Bulog director for operations and public services Tri Wahyudi Saleh said on February 19 that the sugar prices, which had exceeded the government’s current price ceiling, was expected to further increase during the fasting month.
According to the National Strategic Food Price Information Center (PIHPS), the average sugar price in the country stood at 14,600 IDR (1.07 USD) per kilogramme as of February 19, much higher than the ceiling price of 12,500 IDR (0.91 USD).
Tri Wahyudi Saleh said that imports were needed in order to increase the supply in the market as sugarcane in the country could only be harvested after Idul Fitri, a celebration that comes after a full month of fasting.
Bulog proposed an import of 200,000 tonnes, and it is sugar for consumption, not raw sugar for industries, he said./.
VNA
