Under the afternoon sun, dozens of Indonesians, mostly women, queue up to buy subsidized rice, their arms reaching through metal gates to secure vouchers guaranteeing them a spot to make purchases, according to Reuters.
In the temporary market run by the state-run food procurement agency (Bulog) in Bekasi city, 25 km east of the capital Jakarta, many Indonesian citizens are gathering to buy rice.
Rice is an essential item in almost every meal for Indonesia, an Southeast Asian nation with a population of over 270 million people, and rice prices have risen over 16% since last year due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, which reduced rainfall across much of the Asian region in 2023. This has reduced grain yields and created food inflation pressure for some price-sensitive economies.
Photo: Kompas
55-year-old coconut seller Masih, who is among those vying to buy a 5 kg bag of rice, said: “It’s better if you line up to get the rice to bring home. Rice is expensive in the market, so I buy it here at a much cheaper price.”
The market price of rice is capped at 10,600 rupiah (67.8 US cents)/kg, compared to 14,300 rupiah on the open market. Bulog limits the amount of sales to 10 kg per customer to avoid hoarding. The Indonesian government often intervenes to sell food products at subsidized prices when prices rise.
Bulog has distributed over 300,000 tonnes of rice from the government’s reserve warehouses to hundreds of markets nationwide since January, following reports of scarcity at other retail stores.
The National Food Body, Bulog, which oversees food security, said it conducted 429 temporary market sessions in January and plans to open an additional 315 sessions by the end of February.
This year, the lack of rain has delayed planting, pushing the peak harvest season back by a month. Data from the Ministry of Agriculture shows a shortage of 1.63 million tonnes of rice in January and 1.15 million tonnes in February.
Indonesia, which imported a record amount of rice in 2023, has allocated an additional 1.6 million tonnes of import quota above the previously approved 2 million tonnes for 2024, which could push global prices higher, near the highest level in 16 years.
In 2023, Indonesia emerged as Vietnam’s second largest rice importer, with over 1.16 million tonnes, earning over USD 640 million, a sharp increase of 878% in volume and 992% in value compared to 2022.
In the Indonesian rice import bid event on January 17, Vietnam was the only country with many businesses participating and winning the bid for a large quantity, accounting for two-thirds of the 500,000-ton rice package. It includes Loc Troi Group, Northern Food Corporation and Southern Food Corporation, Gia International Corporation, King Green Natural Food Corporation, Kien Giang Import-Export Corporation and Phat Tai Food Company (Dong Thap).
Recently, the Indonesian National Logistics Agency (Bulog) has sent invitations to businesses/partners with demand to participate in the bid for supplying 300,000 tonnes of rice to this country. This is the second import in 2024, which continues to open up opportunities for Vietnamese businesses.
Reference: Reuters
