indonesia sets 2mn metric tons as rice import quota for 2024
Published on: November 7, 2023.
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Indonesia Plans to Set 2 Million Metric Tons Rice Import Quota for 2024
Indonesia’s state food procurement company, Bulog, announced late on Monday that the country plans to set next year’s rice import quota at 2 million metric tons. This quota is lower than the quota for this year. The actual import realization for 2024 will depend on the domestic supply and demand, according to Bulog’s corporate secretary, Awaludin Iqbal.
For this year, Indonesia initially issued a 2 million ton import quota, in addition to 300,000 tons of carry over quota from 2022. However, last month, authorities decided on an additional 1.5 million tons for this year, with some of this potentially being realized in early 2024. These large import quotas were issued to address the rising domestic rice prices caused by drier-than-usual weather affecting harvests. In October, average rice retail prices increased by more than 19% compared to the previous year, as reported by government data.
The decision to set the 2024 rice import quota comes after the government extended its rice handout scheme until June. This program provides 10 kg of rice monthly to 22 million lower-income households to help them cope with the high prices of the staple. The program was initially scheduled to expire next month, but it has been extended due to the ongoing high rice prices.
To ensure that the imported rice remains affordable, the duties for the additional 1.5 million tons of imports will be waived, according to the country’s National Food Agency. Arief Prasetyo Adi, the NFA chief, stated that this incentive was implemented because the prices of rice overseas were quite high, and the exchange rate between the dollar and the rupiah was close to 16,000 rupiah.
In the period from January to September, Indonesia’s rice imports amounted to 1.79 million metric tons. As of the beginning of this month, Bulog’s rice stock stood at 1.4 million metric tons.
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