REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The government is compelled to import more corn following high demand from poultry raisers. It was done as a precautionary measure against scarcity of the commodity, Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Darmin Nasution stated.

"Demand from small and medium poultry raisers of both layers and broilers is still high," he noted here on Tuesday.

The government has decided to import more corn due to limited domestic supply, while information that the country witnessed a corn surplus was inaccurate, he remarked. Hence, the government will import the commodity until the end of March 2019 or ahead of the harvest period to avoid oversupply that may disrupt prices in the market, he stated.

"Basically, the deadline is mid-March based on the poultry raisers' request. Since the price in the market is still high, they expect imports to reduce its price," he revealed.

The government is concerned that corn scarcity will disrupt the supply of purebred chicken eggs that are one of the public's main food requirements, he stated. State logistics firm (Perum Bulog) had earlier called a tender for the import of additional 150 thousand tons of corn to meet the demand for poultry feed and stabilize its price.

Director General of Foreign Trade at the Trade Ministry Oke Nurwan had confirmed the tender. Corn imports are aimed at lowering the high price of the commodity of Rp5,000-Rp6,000 per kilogram, well above the ideal price of Rp3,700-Rp4,000 per kilogram.

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