JAKARTA: Indonesia is planning to expand cattle imports from South Africa and Mexico in a move to reduce its complete reliance on supply from Australia, Secretary General of the Ministry of Trade Suhanto has said.
He said Indonesia is in the process of trade negotiations with Mexico on an agreement to import cattle to to meet domestic demand, Vietnam news agency (VNA) reported.
The plan to import 50,000 cattle from South Africa was mentioned by Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Panjaitan at his meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Suhanto said the import of cattle from both South Africa and Mexico will be implemented so that Indonesia will not completely rely on supply from Australia as Australian cattle prices tend to increase every year, affecting domestic prices.
Data from Indonesia’s Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) shows that Australia is the largest exporter of cattle to Indonesia.
In 2017, Australia’s cattle imports to Indonesia reached 85,192 tonnes. By 2018, this number had increased to 100,623 tonnes, and 122,684 tonnes in 2019.
In 2020, Indonesia imported 105,160 tonnes and 122,863 tonnes in 2021. -Bernama
