Indonesia’s rice reserves secured until year's end

Illustrative image. (Photo: ANTARA/VNA)

Jakarta (VNA) — Indonesia is no longer importing rice for consumption due to an abundant supply of rice, according to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture.

With current rice consumption, Indonesia's rice stock will be secured until the end of this year, said Kuntoro Boga Andri, head of the ministry's Public Relations and Information Bureau.

Results of the 2022 national rice reserve survey showed that the country’s rice stock reached 9.11 million tonnes by the end of March.

Indonesia has stopped importing rice for domestic consumption, namely medium-type rice, Kuntoro said, citing data from the Central Bureau of Statics (BPS). However, the country still imports rice for industrial purposes.

Indonesia imported 444,510 tonnes, 356,290 tonnes and 407 tonnes of rice in 2019, 2020 and 2021, respectively. Up to 99% of imported rice is in the form of broken rice as industrial raw materials.

Previously, BPS Deputy for Production Statistics M Habibullah said the country's rice reserve hit 9.71 million tonnes as of June 2022.

“Our rice stock is sufficient and will continue to grow along with the monthly harvest until the end of December 2022,” Habibullah was quoted by Antara news agency.

He said rice stock in June 2022 was mostly in household institutions which reached 6.6 million tonnes, then 1.04 million tonnes in traders, 1.2 million tonnes in Bulog warehouses, and 0.69 million tonnes in mills and in hospitality./.