March 14, 2012

Indonesia's feed corn imports to drop 57% on domestic output surge

Due to a surge in domestic output, Indonesia's animal feed industry will import 57% less corn this year, the chairman of the Indonesian Feed Mill Association (GPMT) said on Tuesday (Mar 13).

Indonesia will import 1.5 million tonnes in 2012, compared to 3.5 million tonnes last year, Franciscus Xaverius Sudirman told Reuters.

"Domestic corn output this year is estimated to increase significantly because we see that corn seed sales in the domestic market in 2012 have also increased significantly," said Sudirman.

"The government's corn seed and fertiliser subsidy for farmers this year is also increasing significantly."

He said the corn was likely to arrive from June-August. Indonesia's main corn crop is between January-April, with a mid-crop from August-October. The agriculture minister estimates corn production to rise this year to 24 million tonnes from 17.2 million tonnes in 2011.

Indonesia's corn production fell last year after heavy rains, and then extreme heat, ruined the crop in the main growing areas. This helped Indonesia overtake Malaysia to become Southeast Asia's top corn importer in 2011, the US Grains Council said.

Indonesia relies on Argentina for around 40% of its corn imports and 20% comes from the US. It buys the rest from several countries, including India and Cambodia.