Indonesia will not import white sugar this year (2012)
Posted by Labels: Indonesia, Raw Sugar, Sugar Import
Indonesia, Southeast Asia's top sugar consumer, will not import any white sugar this year because it has enough stocks to see it through until its milling season, but has left the door open for raw sugar deliveries, a government official said on Friday.
Last month, the country's agriculture minister said Indonesia had ample white sugar stocks to see it through until milling season, which usually begins in May.
"We have decided that we are not importing white sugar in 2012 since we have 820,000 tonnes of white sugar carryover stock which is enough for four months consumption until April, 2012," Agus Hasanuddin, director of seasonal crop at agriculture ministry, told Reuters.
Indonesia imported 118,129 tonnes of white sugar last year, from total permits for 450,000 tonnes.
Indonesia's government is only allowed the issue of white sugar import permits from January until April.
The country imports 60 percent of its sugar from Thailand, 20 percent from Brazil and 10 percent from Australia, the Indonesian Sugar Association (AGI) says.
If current stocks are not enough to meet demand beyond the milling season, then the government may issue import permits for raw sugar, Hasanuddin added.
The raw sugar will be processed by domestic sugar mills to produce white sugar.
"There may be a possible need to import raw sugar to fulfil one month of white sugar consumption before the new crop enters the market," Hasanuddin said.
Imports of mono-sodium-glutamate (MSG), raw, refined and white sugar into Indonesia were an estimated 3.3 million tonnes in 2011, the Indonesian Sugar Association (AGI) said last year.
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