Indonesia says molasses import halt stabilized sugarcane farmer prices
Indonesia’s agriculture minister says stopping molasses imports lifted and stabilized domestic prices after imported supply had pressured the market. The government now wants to raise sugarcane yields from 60 tonnes to 100 tonnes through technology.
Import halt reverses pressure on molasses prices
Indonesia’s decision to halt molasses imports has lifted and stabilized domestic prices, easing pressure on sugarcane farmers, Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman told President Prabowo Subianto. According to Kompas.com, Amran said imported molasses had previously pushed prices down, but the market rose immediately after Prabowo ordered the inflow stopped through a presidential instruction.
Amran delivered the report while accompanying Prabowo during an inspection of products from a coordinated main harvest involving the Indonesian National Armed Forces. The visit took place at Abdulrachman Saleh Air Base in Malang, East Java, on July 17, 2026. Prabowo examined displays of agricultural machinery and processed farm products, including bottled molasses, and asked whether the product could be used.
Government links policy to farmer relief
The minister presented the import measure as a direct response to complaints from growers. He said farmers had been suffering when imported molasses entered the country and depressed prices, but were no longer facing the same distress after the ban. Kompas.com did not report the previous or current price, the volume of imports affected, the countries supplying the product or the formal duration of the restriction.
Molasses is a by-product of sugar processing, so its price affects the value recovered from crushing sugarcane in addition to the revenue generated by sugar itself. A stronger domestic molasses market can improve returns along the processing chain, although the impact on individual farmers depends on purchasing arrangements between growers and mills. For processors and industrial users, the import halt also makes domestic availability and pricing more important. The report did not identify the industries buying the molasses or describe any effect on their input costs.
Yield improvement becomes the next priority
Amran said Indonesia must now improve sugarcane productivity. He set out an ambition to raise output from 60 tonnes to 100 tonnes, while citing yields of 120 tonnes and 130 tonnes in India and saying Brazil had achieved similarly high performance. He told Prabowo that reaching higher yields would require advanced technology, without specifying a timetable, investment amount or cultivation program.
The productivity target matters because restricting imports can support prices but does not by itself increase the volume of cane or molasses available to processors. Raising yields toward 100 tonnes would expand output from existing farmland if the target is achieved, potentially giving mills more raw material while supporting domestic supply. During the visit, Prabowo also inspected heavy equipment and watched farmers harvesting sugarcane. He greeted several growers and held discussions with Amran and Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan. No additional import, production or price measures were announced in the Kompas.com report.
