Soybean Prices Soar, Minister Of Agriculture Syahrul: Not Only Happening In Indonesia

Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo. (Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Minister of Agriculture (Mentan) Syahrul Yasin Limpo has opened his voice on the rare and high price of soybeans in the market. According to him, scarcity and rising commodity prices do not only occur in Indonesia.

"Not only in Indonesia, there are contraction like this. In Argentina, for example, there are also polemics like this," he told reporters, Monday, January 4.

Syahrul said, soybean scarcity was a global contraction problem. He explained that this may also be due to part of the global pandemic and the global price of soybeans being affected, especially from the United States.

Furthermore, Syahrul said, to deal with this problem, his party had met with the ranks of farmers, involving integrators and also other work units from the ministry and local governments. It aims to prepare local soybeans faster.

"Of course with the fast steps of the Ministry of Agriculture today, together with the existing soybean integrators and developers, we are trying to double the existing strength," he said.

The beginning of expensive soybeans occurred in December 2020. At that time, the Ministry of Trade noted that the world price of soybeans was recorded at 12.95 US dollars per bushels, up 9 percent from the previous month which was recorded at 11.92 US dollars per bushels.

Based on data from The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the average price of soybeans in December 2020 was recorded at 461 US dollars per ton, up 6 percent compared to the previous month which was recorded at 435 US dollars per ton.

The main factor causing the increase in world soybean prices is the surge in demand for soybeans from China to the United States (US). To note, China is the largest soybean exporter in the world.

As a result, the Indonesian Tempe and Tofu Cooperatives Association (Gakoptindo) had stated their stance that they would strike production on January 1 to 3, 2021. This was because the price of imported soybeans continued to rise.