There is an Import Ban, Economists Ask the Government to Ensure Sugar Prices Do Not Rise Indonesia's sugarcane yield is much lower than Thailand's sugarcane yield. Red: Ahmad Fikri Noor

Researcher Eliza Mardian from CORE Indonesia has urged the government to prevent a rise in sugar prices following the implementation of a ban on consumer sugar imports, due to Indonesia's heavy reliance on imports, with 63% of its sugar demand met through imports. The government's goal is to achieve food self-sufficiency, as stated by Coordinating Minister Zulkifli Hasan, by banning imports of four food commodities: rice, corn, sugar, and salt. However, Mardian emphasizes the need for a gradual cessation of imports to avoid significant price hikes and notes that low domestic sugar production is partly due to inefficient sugarcane yield, with Thailand outperforming Indonesia. She proposes modernizing sugar factories to boost sugar production and yield.

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Center of Reform on Economic (CORE) Indonesia researcher Eliza Mardian asked the government to ensure that sugar prices do not increase due to the ban on imports of consumer sugar. This is because Indonesia is considered too dependent on imported sugar. "Stopping sugar imports needs to be gradual because we are already highly dependent on imports. We must be careful not to stop imports but instead increase domestic prices, especially since the middle class has weak purchasing power," said Eliza Mardian in Jakarta, Friday (17/1/2025). She said that currently 63 percent of domestic sugar needs are met through imports. In fact, according to the definition of the World Food Agency or the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), self-sufficiency is achieved if 90 percent of domestic needs are met from domestic production. One of the causes of low domestic sugar production is the low level of sugar cane yield or the sugar content contained in sugar cane grown ...