November 15, 2007

Indonesia's corn imports to plummet by 60 percent in 2007

Indonesia's corn imports were projected to decline by 60 percent due to a higher local production, according to the US Grains Council.

The country was estimated to import around 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of corn this year, down from 1.7 million tonnes last year.

Attributed to increased planting areas and improved productivity, the Statistics Bureau on its third forecast, projected local corn production to reach 13.28 million tonnes this year from 11.61 million tonnes of 2006.

However, Indonesia's soybean imports were seen to rise by 17 percent. From 1.2 million tonnes of import last year, it will increase to 1.4 million tonnes due to a fall in the domestic output.