Bulog to Immediately Buy Sugar from East Java Farmers

Director of Logistics at Perum Bulog, Tri Wahyudi Saleh, stated that the absorption of 25,000 tons is based on the amount of sugar available at the storage facility. This number is likely to grow. Bulog is also waiting for information from APTRI regarding the amount of sugar available in storage facilities in West Java, Central Java, and South Sulawesi for absorption. "These are merely contracts and we are still waiting to see the quality check results," he said on Monday (September 25). Finance Director at Perum Bulog, Iryanto Hutagaol, stated that the logistics agency would absorb around 1.20-1.40 million tons of sugar from farmers and PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) by the end of the year. This absorption will increase the stock of granulated sugar in Bulog storage facilities by 400,000 tons. Based on the results of a limited coordination meeting regarding sugar policy on August 15, 2017, Bulog was tasked with absorbing sugar from farmers and state-owned sugar factories which meet the Indonesian National Standard at a price of IDR9,700/kg without value added tax. The meeting also ruled that bulk sugar sales could only be conducted by Bulog. Meanwhile, APTRI hopes that the absorption of farmers' sugar by Perum Bulog could start this week. This hope was raised following a sugar quality test by PT Sucofindo, which is scheduled to be completed this week. Treasurer at APTRI, Sunardi Edi Sukamto, explained that the absorption amount is based on the amount of sugar available in storage. Based on the data received by APTRI, there are 37,000 tons of sugar from farmers at PTPN XI. "In total, there are around 300,000 tons of sugar from farmers. However, the absorption will follow proposals from each PTPN location or [PT] RNI [Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia] based on the amount of sugar ready in their storage facilities," he said. Farmers must wait for the sugar quality test results within 5 days after the samples were taken. They have been informed that the sugar quality test by Sucofindo will be completed this week. Bulog will start absorbing sugar from farmers after that. "There are SNI requirements for ICUMSA, namely within a range of 80-120 and 120-300. If it is higher than that, Bulog will not purchase it," he added. The International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA) is an organization formed to establish methods of sugar quality analysis with over 30 countries as members. With regard to sugar color, ICUMSA has ranked the color quality of sugar. LAND PURCHASE In the meantime, PTPN XI invested IDR116 billion to purchase sugarcane land as one of its efforts to boost its own sugar cane production in line with the increased production capacity of its sugar factories in Lumajang and Situbondo in East Java. CEO of PTPN XI, M. Cholidi, stated that in purchasing land in the Situbondo area bordering Baluran National Park, the company collaborated with Bank Muamalat to finance the land purchase. "Out of the total investment, IDR25 billion is from our internal funds and the remaining amount is financed by Bank Muamalat," he said in Surabaya on Monday (September 25). He explained that the total acquired land measures 267 hectares. The land which was previously planted with kapok trees was chosen because it was assessed as having potential for sugarcane cultivation. In addition, there is a dam or the Bajulmati reservoir in front of the area which could be used for an irrigation system. Cholidi added that the recent land purchase is very special because the company has not acquired any land in a long time. In fact, the sugarcane land keeps decreasing every year. "We have rarely purchased new land since we started working here. Currently, the land is ready and there is a parallel irrigation channel." The total area for sugarcane cultivation is 8,500 hectares plus an additional 367 hectares. However, the company owns a total of 10,000 hectares, with 1,500 hectares used for seed development and other purposes. The total area cultivated with sugarcane, both the company's and the farmers', amounts to 471,000 hectares. Cholidi explained that the production of sugarcane needs to be boosted by increasing the cultivation area because next year the Assembagoes and Djatiroto sugar factories (PG) will need a lot of sugarcane raw material for processing following the completion of the capacity upgrade or enhancement. The two factories are those that received support for revitalization with state capital participation amounting to IDR650 billion, with PG Djatiroto receiving IDR400 billion and PG Assembagoes receiving IDR250 billion. The Assembagoes sugar processing capacity was increased from 3,000 tons of sugarcane per day to 6,000 tons per day and PG Djatiroto's capacity was increased from 7,500 tons per day to 10,000 tons per day. With the increased processing capacity, the two factories are estimated to be able to generate excess energy from the boiler and turbine generators. "Each PG will generate 10 MW of excess power or electricity. So, the 20 MW of excess power is ready to be sold to PLN Jatim," Cholidi said. (B) Source: http://kalimantan.bisnis.com -------------------------------------------- September 24, 2017 Reasons for Increasing Granulated Sugar Production JAKARTA - The government has set a provisional sugar production target for 2017 at 2.38 million tons, an increase from the 2016 production of 2.2 million tons. Director of Seasonal Crops and Spices at the Ministry of Agriculture's Plantation Directorate General, Agus Wahyudi, explained that the sugar forecasting meeting held in Bogor in mid-September has set the predicted sugar production for this year at 2.38 million tons - 2.4 million tons. The government hopes that granulated sugar production could reach 2.4 million tons in line with the supportive weather. "The milling process has not ended yet. The last milling process might occur in December. Hopefully, we could reach 2.4 million tons. The weather is currently good," he said while in Southeast Sulawesi when contacted by Bisnis on Friday (September 22). The sugar forecasting meeting was attended by granulated sugar producers with estate bases, academics from the Bogor Agricultural Institute, representatives from the Ministry of Industry, and representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture. The meeting recorded the development of sugar production data and calculated the estimated production until the end of the year. This number will be used for consideration in the import policies for the following year. According to him, the increased sugar production this year is supported by the improved weather which led to increased production. Unlike 2016 when it rained almost all year long, resulting in decreased production. Although production has increased compared to last year, it still does not meet the national granulated sugar consumption of 2.8 million tons per year. Therefore, there is still a deficit of 400,000 - 500,000 tons of granulated sugar. "Yes, there is a deficit. We only provide data for the Minister of Trade. This number will be used for consideration in import policies for next year. The prognosis for 2018 is currently being worked on," he said. Lecturer at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) who participated in the granulated sugar forecasting, Purwono, explained that the granulated sugar production until the end of the year has the potential to be less than 2.38 million tons because the production until September only reached 1.9 - 2 million tons. According to him, the government should hold a limited coordination meeting regarding the import policy for raw sugar to be processed into granulated sugar to cover the deficit of granulated sugar. "This number should be used to calculate the balance. The margin of error is around 2%-3%," he said after participating in the National Corn Conference in Jakarta on Wednesday (September 20). Agus added that the Ministry of Agriculture is currently gathering data on the need for ratoon stripping based on reports from regions. The Ministry of Agriculture plans to expand the sugarcane planting area by a total of 15,000 hectares. "That is still the total. We are still waiting for reports from all regions. We will later see what the numbers for ratoon stripping and expansion are. It is not complete yet," he said. Source: www.industri.bisnis.com --------------------------------------- June 7, 2017 Government Targets Sugar Production to Reach 5 Million Tons in 2019 Bisnis.com, MALANG - The government targets the domestic sugar production to reach 5 million tons in 2019 with a program for revitalizing sugar factories (PG) and the addition of new PG. Minister of SOEs, Rini Soemarno, stated that the current national sugar requirement is around 6 million tons/year, with 3 million tons for consumption and 3 million tons for the food and beverage industry. "Meanwhile, the existing national sugar production still only reaches 2.5 million-2.8 million tons/year. So, it is still a long way off," she said on the sidelines of the "Ramadan Package" assistance handover during the "SOEs Present for the Nation" activity in the Wonosari tea plantation, Lawang District, Malang Regency, East Java, Tuesday (June 6, 2017).