The government has acknowledged
there are anomalies in the food commodities' trade as indicated by peculiar
price increases in recent weeks. The supply of various commodities has been
increased, but prices keep rising. Therefore, the government has asked the
police to investigate the food supply chain.
Agriculture Minister Andi Amran
Sulaiman, told Kompas in Jakarta, Tuesday (7/6/2016), there were
anomalies in the trade of food commodities. Total supply of various commodities
had exceeded demand, but prices remained high.
He said in June the supply of
cooking oil reached as much as 1.8 million tons with an estimated demand of
455,000 tons. The supply of chicken totaled 256,000 tons with an estimated
demand of just 112,000 tons. Chicken eggs supplies were at 261,000 tons, while
its demand was only 131,000 tons.
"Although the supply already
exceeds the need, prices keep rising. It indicates there are market anomalies.
The president has asked the head of the National Police to investigate the
supply chain," he said.
The minister also said that the
president had given directives to the Agriculture Minister, Trade Minister,
director of the Bureau of Logistics (Bulog) to take the necessary measures in
stabilizing food commodity prices.
Particularly for meat, the
government is closely monitoring sales in the market and has increased beef
supplies with imports to keep prices down.
Commenting on increasing beef
prices, the president said it was occurring because there was a gap between
demand and supply. It was also because of the late delivery of imported beef to
Jakarta. The President asked the people to wait for its arrival. "We'll
see, it's already on its way [beef imports]. It will be a day, two days or
three days, then please see [the effect on prices]," the president said.
The president also promised to check
the price of beef in the market. "When the price has reached the level we
want, I am going to the market," the president added.
Overly long supply chain
Separately, the chairman of the
National Economic and Industrial Committee, Soetrisno Bachir, said the
government should shorten the long supply chain of commodities, especially in
the beef trade.
Trade Minister Thomas Lembong said
the government was working on the planning of production, importation, and
distribution of beef. "Related to beef, the problems occur in planning.
The vice president has reminded us all, the ministers, to stick to the
plan," Lembong said.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister
Tjahjo Kumolo has asked all regional heads to continue monitoring prices and
the availability of basic commodities. Regional heads should also find ways to
stabilize prices, when prices of goods rise unexpectedly.
"The results from monitoring
are then mapped in order to find the causes of the food price hikes. Similarly,
if there are shortages of certain goods in the market, from the mapping, steps
should be immediately taken to overcome the insufficient stocks," he said.
The instruction, which was
stipulated in a circular from the Home Affairs Ministry on June 2, was
addressed to all governors, regents and mayors. One of the steps that should be
taken, the minister said, would be to improve cooperation between regions that
enjoy a surplus and the areas that experienced shortages.
Separately, the chairman of the
Board of Trustees of the Association of Indonesian Sugar Cane Farmers, Arum
Sabil, said the import of sugar to reduce the commodity's price in the market
would hurt sugar cane farmers except if the imports were in the form of raw
sugar and conducted by state-owned companies.
"If the import is carried out
by private companies, or in the form of sugar ready for consumption, it will
definitely hurt farmers," Arum said. He added that the high price of sugar
was being speculated in order to enable certain parties to benefit from
imported sugar.
Meanwhile, the beef trading firm PD
Dharma Jaya has ensured frozen beef from Australia totaling as much as 250 tons
would arrive at the Tanjung Priok port, Jakarta, on Friday this week. The
frozen beef, according to plan, will be used to increase the supply and for a
market operation for this year's fasting month and Idul Fitri.
PD Dharma Jaya director Ratna DK
Marina said the company had received a permit to import frozen beef from
Australia and New Zealand to the quantity of 500 tons.
However, there was a delay in
issuing licenses to import from New Zealand. As a result, for the time being
the company would only import frozen beef from Australia.
Not
effective
The use of digital applications for
the procurement and distribution of commodities, such as onion, has not been
effective enough to suppress price hikes.
Besides the application business
still being small scale, the app system in the procurement and distribution of
commodities needs an integrated system of procurement, storage, distribution,
which requires substantial investment.
Deputy for commerce and industry at
the office of Coordinating Economic Minister, Edy Putra Irawady, said digital
applications for the procurement and distribution of commodities, such as
onions, had not been effective because the operators, mostly young people, must
establish systems and mapping on procurement, storage, connectivity, and
distribution.
Edy said digital apps for the
procurement and distribution of commodities was not just limited to facilitate
sales, but also to build the system.
"The long supply chain must be
shortened. Therefore, the mapping of commodity procurement, storage, and distribution
must be clear," he said.
Separately, Walesa Danto of
limakilo.id - the digital app designer for the procurement and distribution of
onions - said the app had been applied in cooperation with farmers. "We
can supply onions at a price of about 15 percent lower than the market price in
Jakarta," he said.
Currently, Walesa further said, the
distribution of onions reached 250 tons per week for the market in Jakarta.
Related to procurement, the company was planning to cooperate with investors to
procure farming areas for planting onions to assure supplies.
source: Kompas, Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Indonesia verses can be seen in previous entry
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar