Bulog to Import Beef for Jakarta, West Java

Jakarta (Antara) - Agriculture Minister Suswono said state-owned logistics board Bulog would be allowed to import beef to stabilize beef prices but only to supply the market in Jakarta and West Java. "The government has agreed beef imports by Bulog for market operations but only for Jakarta and West Java," Suswono said after opening a coordination meeting in Bogor, West Java, on Wednesday. He said that Bulog would conduct market operations in Jakarta and West Java because beef supplies to the two provinces were small, triggering price increases to between Rp85,000 and Rp90,000 per kg. The minister said that the trade ministry wanted the beef price to go down to about Rp70,000 - Rp80,000 per kg. He said that price at that level would still give profit to ranchers as long as the distribution chains were not too long. The minister claimed that he had not known yet the volume of beef import for Bulog because Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan had not yet provided him with the figure. Trade Miniser Gita Wirjawan said on Tuesday that his ministry continued to discuss proper beef import quota for Bulog so that the price of the commodity at home could be lowered. "The import quota for Bulog has not been decided. We are still discussing and studying it. We hope with the correct volume of quota the price could be stabilized," the trade minister said here on Tuesday. (*)