World Sugar Prices Rise, National Food Agency Reviews Sales Reference Prices

Head of the National Food Agency Arief Prasetyo Adi. (Photo: Mery Handayani/VOI)

JAKARTA - The National Food Agency (NFA) is discussing regulations for the Purchase/Sales of sugar consumption.

This is done in response to the increase in world sugar prices.

Head of NFA Arief Prasetyo Adi said the current government's priority is to maintain the balance of national sugar prices at the farmer level, industry players, traders, and consumers.

According to Arief, this is in line with the direction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) who requested that food commodity prices ensure their stability and balance, so that farmers, traders, and consumers can get reasonable benefits.

"We continue to encourage the process of reviewing and adjusting the Consumption Sugar HAP to be completed and promulgated," he said in an official statement, written on Sunday, May 28.

Furthermore, Arief said, the HAP figure which is higher than before can stimulate sugarcane farmers to be more active in producing, thereby boosting national sugar production in the future.

Currently, the consumption of HAP regulations that apply are contained in the Regulation of the National Food Agency (Perbadan) Number 11 of 2022.

In this agency, it is stipulated that HAP of sugar is consumed at the producer level of Rp. 11,500 per kg, and at the consumer level it is Rp. 13,500 per kg for modern retailers and Rp. 14,500 per kg in Eastern Indonesia.

"The regulation is in the review stage and will then set a new HAP," he said.

Arief also encouraged improvements in the governance of the national sugar industry in terms of on farm and off farm.

Some of the challenges that are being addressed include the price and availability of fertilizers and the expansion of sugarcane plantation land to meet sugar cane raw materials for sugar factories.

On the other hand, Arief emphasized that the condition of world sugar prices that rose due to the sloping supply could also be a good opportunity for Indonesia.

"It is true that we really have to anticipate the increase, but this is also an opportunity for Indonesia to start gradually increasing production, so that Indonesia can return to being one of the sugar producers to be taken into account," he said.