Indonesia rice imports spike as Jakarta shores up stocks

JAKARTA, Sept 15: Indonesia recorded a large increase in rice imports in the first eight months this year compared to the same period last year, the statistics agency said Friday, as Southeast Asia's biggest economy seeks to boost stocks of its staple commodity.

Global rice prices rose to a 15-year high last week after top producer India's decision in July to ban exports of non-basmati rice, citing several factors including soaring domestic prices and "extreme climatic conditions".

Indonesia imported 1.59 million tons of rice from January to August this year, Statistics Indonesia head Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti said, while more than 429,000 tons of rice were imported for the whole of 2022.

"Rice imports from January and August 2023 experienced quite a high increase compared to the same period last year," Widyasanti told reporters, without disclosing the import figure for the same period last year.    �AFP