RI to Import Rice From India as Thailand Set to Cancel Contracts.

The government will next week discuss the possibility of buying rice from India, an alternative rice source for this year’s imports, a minister says.

Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu said on Wednesday in Jakarta that the government would discuss the possibility of importing rice from India during the visit of an Indian minister to Jakarta on Oct. 4.

“India recently announced that they can export rice. This [rice import] will be one of the issues to be discussed during the visit,” she told reporters at her office.

As of yet the Indonesian government had not received an official statement about the cancellation of rice imports from Thailand. State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and the Indonesian Embassy to Thailand were still discussing the matter, she said.

Indonesia, the world’s third-largest rice consumer, had earlier arranged in a government-to-government agreement to import 300,000 tons of rice from Thailand for October delivery.

However, Thai Commerce Minister Kittiratt Na Ranong recently said that it had canceled its plan to sell rice to Indonesia over a divergence between the deal price and the price expected by the new Thai government formed after an election in July.

Analysts have said that rice prices would likely rise unless substitute rice sources were found.

Sufficient supplies of rice influence the public’s confidence in price stability, and Central Statistics Agency (BPS) chairman Rusman Heriawan has said that rice imports must be made during the dry season until December to avoid price surges and meet customer demand for the number one staple food. Harvest season normally begins early in the year and finishes before mid-year.

Indonesians’ annual rice consumption tops 139 kilograms per capita and the rice price was the third-biggest contributor to inflation in August.

Mari said that India would be one alternative source for rice imports besides Pakistan and Vietnam following the possible cancellation of shipments from the world’s biggest rice exporter Thailand.

Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said that the government had “a lot of alternatives” for importing rice in addition to Thailand.

“Vietnam offered a pretty large amount [of rice], Pakistan did, too. World stock is sufficient,” he said.

“We produce rice for our own consumption, don’t be affected by Thailand’s policy,” Hatta told reporters on Wednesday, calling Thai rice imports “complementary” to the other existing suppliers which have more suitable prices.

Bulog chief Sutarto Alimoerso said that Pakistani and Indian prices were lower and his firm was eyeing the two countries to reduce Indonesia’s dependence on traditional importers Thailand and Vietnam.

In a move to secure its 1.5-million-ton domestic stockpile and to control rice prices, Indonesia plans to import a total of 800,000 tons of rice this year out of which 500,000 tons are from Vietnam. By September, Indonesia had received 200,000 tons out of the planned 500,000 tons from the country.

Source : thejakartapost.com