Jakarta. The state logistics agency Bulog recently said they would prioritize domestically produced rice despite the planned imports of the staple food.

Bulog’s head Bayu Krisnamurti said that the import would take place in phases while taking into account the country’s rice production and consumption, among others. Bulog has also taken into account the demurrage fee, namely penalties imposed on containers not collected from the port within the agreed time. According to Bayu, the demurrage fees should be no more than 3 percent of the value of the imported goods. 

“Demurrage fees are just like any other dispatch fees, and they are only natural in an import-export mechanism,” Bayu said over the weekend. 

Bulog has set this year’s rice absorption target at 900,000 tons. The Trade Ministry has assigned Bulog to import 3.6 million tons of rice throughout 2024. Imports already stood at 2.2 million tons in January-May 2024.