Bulog To Supply Domestic Market With 200 Local Cows

Jakarta, July 17 (Antara) - State logistics board Bulog is preparing 200 local cows to supply the market in the current fasting month of Ramadhan and in the face of the post fasting Idul Fitri festivity, the board chief said. 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," Bulog Head Sutarto Alimoeso on Wednesday. Sutarto said that besides preparing 200 cows, Bulog was also to import some 3,000 tons of frozen beef. He hope that the Bulog would be able to meet the 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. In a press conference on Wednesday the government announced it would import slaughter cattle in addition to its plan to import 3,000 tons of frozen beef. "The import quota of the slaughter cattle is not yet decided becase we are still concentrating on the importation of 3,000 tons of frozen beef. We will continue to update it and accelerate the importation from Australia," he said. He said that in the fasting month, the need for beef usually increased by 10 percent. On Monday, Agriculture Minister Suswono said the country was importing 3,000 tons of beef, part of which was expected to arrive on Wednesday. The imports by the Board of Logistics will include 800 tons via Jakarta`s Soekarno Hatta airport and 2,200 tons via Tanjung Priok port, Suswono said. He said he hoped the imports would help press down the beef price on the domestic market. The price of beef has soared in entering the Islamic fasting month of Ramadhan. 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. This has increased from the normal price of about Rp75,000 per kg. Suswono called on feed lotters not to speculate waiting for the price to rise higher before selling their their cows to the slaughterhouses. He said the increase in the price of beef on the domestic market is no longer proportional with the recent rise in the price of subsidized oil fuels. He noted, however, the prices of eggs and live chickens had been on the decline in the first week of the fasting month in line with the commitment of the producers. In the meantime, traders said prices of essential commodities in Jakarta such as as red peppers, red onions, carrots and local beef have begun declining while the state logistics board Bulog will also shortly supply the market with beef. Bulog will supply the market with beef shortly after the arrival of imported frozen meat and live cattle which are expected this month. Trader Tio at Senen Market said here on Wednesday that prices of necessities began to show a downward trend since in the past three days. He said that the prices of red curl chilli had declined from Rp60,000 to Rp40,000 per kg, red onions from Rp40,000 per kg to Rp30,000 per kg, potato from Rp14,000 per kg to Rp8,000 and carrots from Rp12,000 to Rp10,000 per kg. The price of local beef has also dropped from Rp120,000 per kg to Rp100,000 per kg, trader Sadiman who has sold beef at the market for 30 years said meanwhile. He said that actually, the price of beef had not yet returned to normal but it had been gradually going down because the government had reportedly imported 8,000 tons of frozen beef and 22,000 tons of live cattle.