JAKARTA. Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman has confirmed that there will be no imported shallots entering Indonesia as the commodity’s supply is currently 200,000 tons per month.
“There will be no imported shallots. If we find imported shallots in the markets, we will straightaway take action [against the importers]. We have a surplus of around 200,000 tons per month while our needs reach only 90,000 to 100,000 tons,” he said, during a market operation at the Kramat Jati wholesale market in Jakarta on Thursday.
Kramat Jati market manager Salam confirmed that no imported shallots had entered the market. He played down rumors saying that shallots imported from Thailand had entered the Kramat Jati market because after being investigated, the shallots were from Garut, West Java.
“The shallots are from Garut but they look like the ones from Thailand,” said Salam, adding Thailand shallots are a bit bigger and look pale.
The government is intensifying market operations to stabilize staple food prices, which jumped before and during Ramadhan.
Andi said with the market operations, the government could lower the price of shallots to between Rp 18,000 (US$1.35) and Rp 20,000 from the previous Rp 76,000 per kilogram.
The government is holding market operations -- which provide staple foods such as sugar, rice, cooking oil, shallots and red chillies at lower prices -- simultaneously in areas across Indonesia. (ebf)
