Indonesia pledges to protect cane prices while planning raw sugar imports
Indonesia plans to combine raw crystal sugar imports with purchases from the domestic cane harvest expected in April and May. Bapanas says the policy will preserve the farmer reference price of Rp14,500 per kilogram, although ANTARA’s report contains conflicting import-volume figures.
Government pairs imports with domestic procurement
Indonesia’s National Food Agency, known as Bapanas, has pledged to maintain purchases from domestic sugarcane farmers while the government arranges imports of raw crystal sugar. The agency says the imports will strengthen government food reserves and help manage consumer sugar prices, without displacing the cane harvest projected for April and May.
Bapanas head Arief Prasetyo Adi said after a limited coordination meeting in Jakarta that both operations would proceed: state procurement would absorb domestic production, while imported raw sugar would be processed into consumer sugar. Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman and other stakeholders attended the meeting, according to ANTARA.
The government has set a reference selling price of Rp14,500 per kilogram for sugar at the farmer level. The corresponding price at sugar mills is Rp15,700 per kilogram. Adi said protecting the farmer price—and, by extension, the value of growers’ cane—was the government’s first priority.
Report contains conflicting import figures
ANTARA’s headline and several passages describe the planned import volume as 200 tons. However, another passage states that the plan covers 200,000 tons of raw crystal sugar. Adi’s comparison with national consumption also points to the larger figure: he said the shipment would cover less than three weeks of demand, while Indonesia consumes 250,000 tons of sugar a month. At 200 tons, the volume would represent only a negligible share of monthly consumption.
The discrepancy was not resolved in the source report. No import date or country of origin was disclosed. Adi said the process would require completion of the meeting record, followed by bidding for an assignment from the state-owned enterprises minister.
The mandate could be given to state-owned food companies including ID FOOD, Perum Bulog or PT Perkebunan Nusantara. Bapanas would prepare the operation with relevant ministries and agencies, including the Coordinating Ministry for Food Affairs.
Existing reserves to be released before harvest
The import plan is intended partly to anticipate fluctuations in consumer sugar prices ahead of the 2025 fasting month and Eid al-Fitr period, ANTARA reported. Adi also said sugar already held in warehouses should be released promptly because prices had risen in several regions. The space could then be replenished with sugar from the April and May domestic harvest.
Adi put current sugar stocks at about 4.5 million tons and said they were intended to last for five months, bridging the period until the cane harvest. The figure is substantial compared with the stated monthly consumption of 250,000 tons, although the report did not explain the stock composition, ownership or availability for consumer use.
Execution will determine the effect on growers
For cane farmers and mills, the central issue is the timing and sequencing of releases, imports and domestic procurement. Imported raw sugar must be refined, while the local harvest will require mill capacity and buyers during a relatively concentrated April-May window. If warehouse stocks are released before the harvest and state companies purchase local sugar at the reference level, the government may limit downward pressure on farmgate prices.
Market participants will still need clarity on the actual import quantity, tender timetable and origin. Those details will determine how much additional sugar enters the processing system and whether arrivals overlap with domestic crushing. Until they are published, the government’s Rp14,500-per-kilogram commitment remains the principal stated safeguard for growers.
