Chief of the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) Sutarto Alimoeso renegotiation over rice import from Thailand has been recently completed. As much as 300,000 tons of rice from Thailand will arrive in Indonesia by February 2012 at the latest.
Sutarto said on Wednesday that the shipment schedule had to be renegotiated in the wake of the recent flood disaster in Thailand. The rice from Thailand was initially expected to arrive in December of 2011 at the latest.
Reports earlier said that Thailand intended to cancel the 300,000 rice export contract with Indonesia, as the new government in Thailand had promised to buy rice from farmers at higher prices. Indonesia then threatened to seek alternative rice source from India.
Sutarto said that there was no renegotiation over the price of rice from Thailand. “The renegotiation was about delivery schedule. It was not about price. I don’t want to renegotiate the price,” he said.
Bulog is in charge of securing rice supply in Indonesia. For next year, it has been targeted to secure up to 5 million tons of rice to help support the government’s program to supply rice for the poor and help in the stabilization of the price of rice in the domestic market. Bulog’s rice stock by the end of 2012 is targeted to reach 2 million tons, up about 11 percent from the 1.8 million tons target for 2011.
Sutarto has said that Bulog may not have to make new rice import contract next year, if domestic rice production is sufficient. (rei)
