December 17, 2013
Indonesia's 2014 beef imports seen at 112,000 tonnes
Indonesia's agriculture minister said that the country's beef and cattle imports will total around 20% of total consumption next year at about 112,000 tonnes.
According to agriculture minister Suswono, Indonesia's beef consumption will hit 560,000 tonnes in 2014, up from 549,000 tonnes this year.
"We estimate that around 80% of beef consumption next year can be supplied from domestic production," he added.
Indonesia has loosened rules on imports to ease food inflation and following a beef shortage and import corruption scandal earlier this year, all but abandoning a 2014 self-sustainability drive.
Prior to relaxing the beef and cattle import rules in the second half of this year, Indonesia used a quota system in an attempt to boost its domestic beef market.
The new 2014 import estimate will be more than triple the now scrapped beef import quota for 2013 at 32,000 tonnes, of which approximately 20% consisted of prime cuts. The live cattle import quota was set at 267,000 head of cattle.