Meat Stock Secure Amid Soaring Prices Reach

KOMPAS/ZULKARNAINI

Meat on display at Peunayong Market, Banda Aceh, Aceh, Wednesday (16/5/2018). Eating meat dishes ahead of Ramadhan festivity becomes a tradition for Acehnese residents. The tradition has taken place since the era of Sultan Iskandar Muda in the 16th century.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government has guaranteed a safe stock of meat to meet the needs of citizens ahead of the fasting month of Ramadan and the following Idul Fitri. Apart from local cattle, the need is met through imports of buffalo meat/beef and feedlot cattle amid the increasing meat prices.

The global meat price index in February 2022 released on Saturday (5/3/2022), according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), reached 112.8 points, an increase of 15.3 percent compared to last year. The index figure was a record high driven by strong import demand amid tight supply of live cattle in Brazil and repopulation policy in Australia.

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Bulog to Import Meat to Stabilize Prices

Domestically, beef prices have not shown signs of decline. Earlier this month the price of fresh beef was Rp 128,100 per kilogram, which was above the reference price set at Rp 105,000 per kilogram. Therefore, the government has issued import permits for 100,000 tons of frozen buffalo meat and 20,000 tons of frozen beef in order to control prices and meet the citizen's increasing needs ahead of Ramadan next month.

Until last weekend, 12,000 tons of frozen buffalo meat imported by the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) from India arrived at Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta. That was 60 percent of the total amount targeted in the first phase of imports expected to arrive by the end of this month.

National Food Agency head Arief Prasetyo Adi said at the weekend that the agency was collaborating with a number of parties to ensure secure meat stocks. In addition to Bulog, coordination is carried out with ID Food as the parent of food SOEs, Jakarta-owned business entity Dharma Jaya, the Indonesian Meat Traders Association (APDI) and the Indonesian Meat Slaughter and Traders Network (Jappdi).

Arief said the meat import was pursued to ensure the public would get alternatives, either frozen buffalo meat, frozen beef or beef from production centers in Indonesia. "We will make sure delivery is done before the fasting month and Lebaran," he said.

Tangkapan Layar

The presentation of Chief Representative Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) Indonesia Valeska during an online discussion, Monday (22/3/2021). The discussion carried the theme "Indonesia-Australia Cooperation in the Cattle and Beef Industry in 2021."

ID Food, through PT Berdikari, has also been assigned by the government to provide beef stock from Brazil. According to Arief, amid the government’s policy to reduce imports, food reserves must be maintained. Together with the Agriculture Ministry, his agency sought to optimize cattle centers to meet domestic needs for meat.

Mokhamad Suyamto, Bulog’s director for supply chain and public services, said the agency was trying to accelerate the distribution of meat to all regions, while the Indonesian Meat Traders Association, as stated by chairman Achyat, was looking to ensure the availability of meat in the market at reasonable prices.

Oke Nurwan, the Trade Ministry’s director general for domestic trade said the government had asked Bulog and other state-owned enterprises to import frozen buffalo meat and beef as part of efforts to

help control prices and provide an alternative to meat. "The main focus is to anticipate the increase in meat prices during Ramadan and Lebaran," he said.

Agriculture Minister Syahrul Yasin Limpo confirmed last week the secure stock of beef, saying that the meat procurement was influenced by price fluctuations at the global level.

With the demand for meat expected to hover at 202,937.8 tons, there would a surplus of 31,153.4 tons during the period.

Based on data verification as of March 2 at the Agriculture Ministry, the availability of buffalo meat and beef from March to May would reach 234,091.2 tons. With the demand for meat expected to hover at 202,937.8 tons, there would a surplus of 31,153.4 tons during the period.

Apart from the increasing trend in prices, the supply of meat from the slaughterhouses is generally smooth, as said by Wiwin (50), a meat seller at Karang Ayu Market, Semarang, Central Java.

The residents hope the meat prices will not continue to rise ahead of Ramadan. According to Lasiman, the Indonesian Chicken Noodle and Meatball Traders Association chairman, once increasing, the beef prices would usually stutter to go down in the market despite the decrease in reference prices. "This burdens us as meatball traders," he said.

ALIF ICHWAN

The chicken meat traders in the Pasar Minggu area, Jakarta, Thursday (11/07/2019), are serving the purchase of chicken meat. Today's food prices are stable, including the selling price of chicken meat. The price of large size chicken, buyers are offered at a price of Rp. 40,000 per head, while the price for small sizes is Rp. 35,000 per head.

Indonesian Live Cattle Farmers Association (Gapuspindo) executive director Joni Liano said they had sought to speed up the mobilization of local cattle from production centers to main consumption areas, including Jakarta, West Java and Banten, as a way to help control the prices. The production centers are in East Nusa Tenggara, West Nusa Tenggara, Bali and East Java.

He said consumption in those three provinces accounted for 40 percent of national needs.

(This article was translated by Musthofid)