Indonesia reverses plan to halt sugar imports: Report
Indonesia has reversed its plan to halt sugar imports in 2024, prioritizing improvements in agricultural infrastructure instead. Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan confirmed that sugar imports will continue to prevent shortages and price hikes. This shift follows a directive from the President, despite previous statements that imports of sugar and salt for consumption would stop next year.
The Indonesian government is putting off the plan announced late last year to temporarily halt sugar imports this year. Instead, it will prioritize enhancing agricultural infrastructure to increase domestic production, as stated by Coordinating Food Minister Zulkifli Hasan. He added that this change in direction came as a result of an instruction from the President, reported Jakarta Post.
“We will first try to improve irrigation and other things, we will prohibit rice imports, [and] we have decided in a meeting that we will not import corn [or] salt. Sugar will be allowed,” Zulkifli said on Wednesday in Jakarta during CNBC Indonesia’s Economic Outlook 2025 event, as quoted by detikFinance.
Later that day, he informed reporters that sugar imports would continue to prevent potential shortages that could lead to higher domestic prices for the commodity.
National Food Agency (Bapanas) head Arief Prasetyo Adi said on Feb. 17 that the government had opted to import sugar due to a rise in prices despite sufficient domestic production.
Zulkifli had earlier stated that we will no longer import salt and sugar for consumption starting next year.
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Source : Chinimandi
