Indonesia will export rice in 2020

In recent years, the Southeast Asian nation was an importer of rice due to the expensive local supply, making it difficult to meet the demand for goods.

Local media quoted Indonesian Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo as saying Indonesia would aim to export 100,000 – 500,000 tons of rice by 2020.

“As a net rice importer in recent years, it is unclear where and when exports will take place and how Indonesia's expensive rice can compete with similar but cheaper rice from Thailand and Vietnam, “USDA said.

According to the US agriculture agency, in the first 10 months of 2019, Indonesia exported only 202 tons of rice.

An industry source related to exporting high quality rice to the US, which accounts for 50% of Indonesia's rice exports, recommends that it is difficult to guarantee even 10-20 tons of rice per month.

The report noted that it is likely that rice export activity will take place after Indonesia's main harvest, which falls in March – April, as inventories will increase from 4.64 million tons to 675 million tons.

However, the rice consumption ratio of Southeast Asian countries may hinder the country's export goals.

USDA cited the National Statistics Office (BPS) of Indonesia, saying that the country's total rice consumption is expected to reach 34.3 million tons by 2020.

The additional surplus – 2.11 million tons – in the harvest will decrease to meet the need of a month of consumption in the second crop off-season, the USDA said.

According to Economy and Consumption