RI TO IMPORT 500,000 TONS OF SUGAR

Jakarta, Dec 6 (ANTARA) - The government is expected to import 500,000 tons of white crystal sugar from Thailand, China and India this month, State Enterprises (BUMN) Minister Mustafa Abubakar said.

"We hope that the sugar will be imported from Thailand. We are also open to sugar imported from China and India," the minister said here on Sunday.

The minister said that for the importation and supply of the white crystal sugar the government had appointed state-owned plantation company PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN), state-owned sugar distributor company PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI) and state-owned logistics firm Perum Bulog.

"The three state-owned companies have been appointed as registered importers," he said.

He said that the white crystal sugar imports were unavoidable because the country's sugar production depended very much on the climate which could not be predicted.

He said that the sugar imports were now in progress so that there was no need to wait until 2010 to realize the import plan.

The minister did not reveal the volume of the sugar that should be imported by each of the three companies that had been appointed by the government.

Abubakar said earlier that sugar consumption in April 2010 would reach 1.2 million tons while stocks at home were only about 610,000 tons, leaving a deficit of 500,000 tons.

Therefore, to cover the deficit, the government decided to import about 500,000 tons of sugar.

In order to meet the national need for sugar, the government in the middle term was planning to increase the designed capacity of its domestic sugar production in 2025.

For the need of industry, it will raise its production from the present 2.1 million tons to 3.3 million tons while for sugar consumption it will increase its production from the present 2.7 million to 5.6 million tons.