ID :
38167
Wed, 12/31/2008 - 00:08
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/38167
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RI CACAO EXPORTS EXPECTED TO DROP 30 PCT IN 2008
Makassar, Dec 30 (ANTARA) - Indonesia'a cacao exports in 2008 are expected to drop 20 percent compared to last year when they reached a total volume of 532,000 tons, an industry spokesman said.
"The decline in cacao exports is projected because production from year to year has decreased and there is the impact of the global crisis," Halim Razak, chairman of the South Sulawesi branch of the Indonesian Cacao Association (Askindo), said here Tuesday.
He said according to available data, national cacao production reached 900,000 tons in 2006 and it dropped to 532,000 tons in 2007 while the figure for 2008 was projected at 490,000 tons. Meanwehile, domestic demand stood at an average of 230,000 tons per year.
With production decreasing while domemstic demand remained constant, the allocations for exports would go down.
The situation was worsened by a downward trend in the commodity's world market price during the last six months. Last September the world market price was US$2,600 per ton but it had since dropped to US$ 2,100 per ton.
Cacao's domestic market price was Rp 35,000 per kg in September but it was now down at Rp 18,000 per kg.
Elaborating on the continuing decline in cacao production, Razak said production in West and South Sulawesi was now an average of only 500 kg per hectare per year whereas ideally it should be around 1.5 tons per hectare per year.
"Most of the plants are over 15 years old so that they are less productive and often affected by cacao plant diseases," he said.
To improve the situation, Razak said, the local administrations should soon implement a cacao plants revitalization program and help farmers fight the plant diseases.
The local government's assistance was necessary because South and West Sulawesi provinces accounted for around 70 percent of the country's cacao exports every year.
"The decline in cacao exports is projected because production from year to year has decreased and there is the impact of the global crisis," Halim Razak, chairman of the South Sulawesi branch of the Indonesian Cacao Association (Askindo), said here Tuesday.
He said according to available data, national cacao production reached 900,000 tons in 2006 and it dropped to 532,000 tons in 2007 while the figure for 2008 was projected at 490,000 tons. Meanwehile, domestic demand stood at an average of 230,000 tons per year.
With production decreasing while domemstic demand remained constant, the allocations for exports would go down.
The situation was worsened by a downward trend in the commodity's world market price during the last six months. Last September the world market price was US$2,600 per ton but it had since dropped to US$ 2,100 per ton.
Cacao's domestic market price was Rp 35,000 per kg in September but it was now down at Rp 18,000 per kg.
Elaborating on the continuing decline in cacao production, Razak said production in West and South Sulawesi was now an average of only 500 kg per hectare per year whereas ideally it should be around 1.5 tons per hectare per year.
"Most of the plants are over 15 years old so that they are less productive and often affected by cacao plant diseases," he said.
To improve the situation, Razak said, the local administrations should soon implement a cacao plants revitalization program and help farmers fight the plant diseases.
The local government's assistance was necessary because South and West Sulawesi provinces accounted for around 70 percent of the country's cacao exports every year.
