March 2, 2010

Indonesia sees lower soy output in 2010

Soy output in Indonesia is seen to fall 1.1% to 962,539 tonnes this year, signaling a need to buy more on global markets and putting at risk its five-year target of freezing imports.

The government of the world's sixth-biggest importer of soy has said it wants to halt imports of the commodity by 2014.

The central bureau of statistics said the forecast of lower soy output was based on the assumption that the harvest area would drop 1.2% or by 12,430 hectares (30,710 acres).

According to a top industry official, Indonesia's soy production could be further hit by a return of drier weather brought by the El Nino phenomenon while erratic weather could also disrupt imports.

Indonesia imported nearly 1.2 million tonnes last year to meet domestic consumptions, said Ali Basry, director of the Indonesian representative office of the American Soybean Association - International Marketing.

"Assuming that consumption grows about 2-3% and the output forecasts does not change much, imports will likely rise this year," Basry said, noting that output must grow more than 10% a year.

Meanwhile, the country's corn output is expected to rise to 18.12 million tonnes this year from a preliminary 2009 figure of 17.592 million tonnes.