JAKARTA – The Indonesian government has decided to import 200,000 tons of sugar this year, citing the need to maintain the Government Food Reserves (CPP) ahead of Ramadan and Eid celebrations.

This was conveyed by Arief Prasetyo Adi, Head of the National Food Agency (Bapanas), following a limited coordination meeting (Rakortas) at the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs in Jakarta last week.

“We want to increase the stock level held by the government. It is not due to a production shortage, as we still have enough for around 4 to 5 months,” explained Arief, in an official statement.

The type of sugar to be imported, according to Arief, will be raw sugar, not refined sugar or white crystal sugar.

Arief also added that in the first week of January 2025, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) recorded a spike in sugar prices across 118 districts/cities. This price increase continued to spread to 153 districts/cities by the fourth week.

As of February 12, 2025, Bapanas recorded 34,000 tons of sugar in CPP stock, with 22,000 tons managed by ID FOOD and 12,000 tons by Perum Bulog. (KR/ZH)