The surge in world raw sugar prices has caused the price of refined sugar in Indonesia to rise. This has caused the production cost burden on the raw material components of the processed food and beverage industry to swell and profits for some industry players to decrease. The price of refined sugar is currently IDR 11,000-IDR 12,000 per kg, close to the selling price of consumption sugar or white crystal sugar. Business actors and small and medium industries have not dared to raise product prices, preferring to reduce profits by keeping prices in check. Adhi proposed cutting raw sugar import duties until the world price of raw sugar returned to normal or reached a new equilibrium point.Indonesia has also lowered import duties on raw sugar imported from a number of countries, such as India, Australia, and New Zealand. Dendi Ramdani, Vice President for Industry and Regional Research at PT Bank Mandiri (Persero) Tbk, said that world raw sugar prices have started to increase rapidly since early January 2023. The average price of raw sugar in 2023 is expected to remain high, namely 20 US cents per pound, and it is expected to drop to 19 US cents per pound in 2024. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reported an increase in sugar prices due to concerns about world sugar supplies, which were expected to fall in the 2022/2023 season. Indonesia, as a raw sugar-importing country, will be affected by the increase, but domestic consumption will also rise.In 2023, Indonesia will import 4.641 million tonnes of sugar. The sugar import quota consists of imports of raw sugar for refined industrial raw materials of 3.6 million tons, 991,000 tons of white crystal sugar, and 50,000 tons of sugar for special needs. Specifically for white crystal sugar, the National Food Agency (NFA) through ID Food plans to realize imports of this commodity of 107,900 tons in March–May 2023. The imported sugar comes through three ports, namely Tanjung Priok in Jakarta with as much as 32,500 tons, Tanjung Perak in Surabaya with 25,000 tons, and Belawan in Medan with 37,900 tons.Based on data from the NFA Food Price Panel as of May 10, 2023, the national average price for consumption sugar at the retail level is IDR 14,420 per kg. The highest average price of sugar is in Papua, which is IDR 16,100 per kg, while the lowest is in East Java, which is IDR 13,330 per kg. (ICE GIACARTA)

Fonte notizia: Kompas - 11 May 2023