Indonesia saw a large increase in rice imports during the first eight months of this year compared to the same period in 2022, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) said on Friday (15/9), in line with the government’s efforts to replenish stocks of the staple.
Indonesia imported 1.59 million tons of rice in the January-August period, up from 237,146 tons in the same period last year, said Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, acting Head of BPS, when providing information on the country’s trade data.
More than half of rice purchases came from Thailand (802,000 tonnes), he said, followed by Vietnam (674,000 tonnes), India (66,000 tonnes) and Pakistan (45,000 tonnes).
A porter rests next to sacks of rice at the rice wholesale market in East Jakarta, May 20 2015. (Photo: REUTERS/Nyimas Laula)
The government has tasked the Logistics Agency (Bulog) to import 2.3 million tons of rice this year to reduce the impact of the El Nino weather pattern which causes drought in Southeast Asia. However, contracts to purchase 453,000 tons of rice have not yet been obtained, a Bulog official said earlier this week.
“Global rice prices are rising. “We want to increase our strategic rice reserves, but even importing is difficult to get,” President Joko Widodo said at a separate event on Friday, adding that difficulties in getting rice from abroad were driven by export restrictions by several countries.
Hot weather in Asia’s main rice-growing regions is threatening harvests, raising rice prices by as much as 20%, and countries led by top exporter India are limiting shipments to control inflation and ensure food security for their populations.
Indonesia’s total rice imports in 2023, including for hotels and restaurants, are estimated to reach 2.9 million tonnes, the National Food Agency said earlier this week. (ab/lt)