GOVT TO INCREASE MEAT IMPORT

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, July 17 (Antara) - The government will import slaughter cows in addition to its previous planned importation of 3,000 tons of frozen beef  to stabilize rising prices and to cover shortage of supplies of beef at home.          However, the government has not yet decided the volume or the number of slaughter cattle planned in the import addition.          "I still cannot give details on the volume of the additional import plan but this is an intervention step to push down the increasing trend of beef prices today," Deputy Trade Minister  Bayu Krisnamurthi said on Wednesday.          The government step is an attempt to cover the shortage of supplies in the market and scale down the rising price of beef which has reached a range of Rp95,000 per kg from the normal price of about Rp75,000 per kg.         "We will raise imports, no matter how much we need, including the importation of slaughter cows," Bayu said.          The government has previously assigned state logistics board Bulog to import 3,000 tons of frozen beef to help overcome the beef problem.             Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said the government would import slaughter cattle, apart from the 3,000 ton import quota by  Bulog.          "We have decided to import slaughter cows. We hope this step will push down the price to a normal level of Rp75,000 per kg," Minister Gita Wirjawan said after a coordinating meeting at the chief economic minister's office on Wednesday.          He said that the coordinating minister for economic affairs also responded positively to the step as now the beef price had reached a certain level. "We will not import if the price is still below the certain level," the minister said.          The 3000 tons have been allocated to Bulog to import the beef from Australia. Initially, about 800 tons will be imported by air and 2,200 by sea.          "Unluckily, only 12 tons of the 800 tons of the import target by air arrived yesterday," said Gita.          Of the Bulog's 3,000 ton quota, some 2,200 tons will be imported by sea through Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta and 800 others by air through Soekartno Hatta airport.           According to Agriculture Minister Suswono, the imported slaughter cows are expected to arrive in the country this month.           "We have decided to import slaughter cattle in order to overcome increasing prices and to add supplies. We hope it will arrive at the end of this month," Suswono said.           The minister said that the cattle (volume) that would be imported would only be made to cover the shortage of supplies in the domestic market. He said that Jakarta alone needed some 50,000 tons of beef per annum or 4,000 tons per month.          "I hope the price of beef would drop to the normal level at Rp75,000 per kg if the imported one already arrives," the minister said.           The government has earlier assigned state-owned logistics board Bulog to import 3,000 tons of frozen beef from Australia to raise supplies.          The sea-borne import of frozen beef from Australia was scheduled to be delivered on July 15 and to arrive in Indonesia on July 25. In the meantime, those imported by air were expected to arrive soon.          But only 12 tons of about 800 tons which were expected to be dispatched by air have arrived.                The delay in the Bulog's import beef was due to the difficulty of getting permit,  according to State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan.          Dahlan said that his office actually hoped the imported beef could have arrived before the Ramadhan holy month on July 10.          Bulog had actually proposed permit on April or three months before Ramadhan. "But the permit did not come out quickly. The permit was just issued nearly Ramadhan," he said.          "Bulog now is urged to import the beef quickly. It is unlikely to buy the beef today and these would come tomorrow," he added.          Therefore, Bulog has earlier decided to speed up the dispatch of frozen beef through import by air.          "If the beef is imported by air, we will be able to supply 20 tons per day," Bulog President Director Sutarto Alimoeso said after a coordination meeting at the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs here on Wednesday last week.         He added however that the agency is waiting for a quarantine permit to import frozen beef through the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.         "If the permit to import beef through the airport is issued soon, we will be able to speed up the import of the commodity to stabilize its price," he said.          "The quantity of beef imported by sea and air is expected to reach 1,000 tons seven days before the post-fasting month festivities," he said.          Besides importing 3,000 frozen beef, Bulog is also preparing 200  local cows to meet the market need for beef.     Bulog Chief Sutarto Alimoeso said his board had negotiated with beef breeders in East Java and Lampung provinces."We have reached a deal and are now ready to supply 200 head of cattle,"  Sutarto Alimoeso said.         He hoped that the Bulog would be able to meet the supply need so that the price in the market would return to the normal level of Rp75,000 per kg. He said now the price a kilogram of beef in the market had reached up to Rp110,000 per kg.        Data from the Trade Ministry show beef is sold for Rp94,232 a kg as of July 10, bringing to Rp92.071 a kg the average price since early July.         Since early this year, beef prices have continued to increase. Rocketing prices of beef also happened several months ago.         "We met to discuss the problem of soaring beef prices. I think it is a simple problem: a problem of supply and demand. My concern is to maintain price stability. The price now is increasing from the previous Rp60,000 (US$6.2) per kg to RpRp95,000 (US$9.8) per kg," Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan said after the meeting last February.          At that time, based on data available at the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), the beef price in the fourth week of January 2013 was recorded at Rp90,000 (US$9.33) per kg.          This price has been in that level since the first week of December 2012. It was said that the beef price in Indonesia now was the most expensive in the world.          The World Bank recorded that the average beef price per kg in Indonesia in December 2012 was US$9.76 while prices per kg in Malaysia was US$4.3, in Thailand US$4.2, In Australia US$4.2, in Japan US$3.9, in Germany US$4.3 and in India US$7.4.          Now, beef prices once again are soaring in the current fasting month, yet the government hoped the price would go down soon after the arrivals of the imports.          President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono admitted on Saturday he lost patience with his ministers' efforts to lower the skyrocketing beef price ahead of the Muslim holiday of Lebaran and wanted to see a change in a few days.          "I think my instruction is quite clear, and so is the vice president's. The coordinating minister for economic affairs has chaired several meetings but the implementation (of their decision) is very slow. Frankly speaking, I lose my patience as the people do,"  he said.***3*** (T.A014/o001  ) (T.SYS/A/A. Abdussalam/A/O. Tamindael) 18-07-2013 11:33: