TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI) plans to import 50,000 cattle from Australia as a part of its efforts to support the government's plan to import 250,000 cattle to meet Indonesia's demand for beef, said RNI's Executive Director, Didik Prasetyo.
According to Didik, the imported cattles have arrived in Majalengka, West Java on May 18, 2016. The cattle will be fattened in RNI's feedlot in Jatitujuh in Majalengka, prior to being slaughtered and distributed. "The cattles will be fattened for at least 100 days," said Didik to Tempo on Friday, May 20, 2016.
That said, according to Didik, the arrival of the imported cattle were not as smooth as originally planned. The cattle were supposed to arrive on April to anticipate the shortage of beef as the month of Ramadan approaches - but the arrival was delayed until May because of the unavailability of shipping vessels from Australia. "So the cattle could only be slaughtered and distributed in August," he said.
In addition to supporting the government's efforts to meet Indonesia's demand for beef - which is expected to spike as the month of Ramadan approaches - the decision to import is aimed to optimised the feedlots that RNI has built in recent month. The feedlots and ranch, continued Didiek, is a part of an integrated project that was first proposed by former State-owned Minister Dahlan Iskan in 2012, dubbed SaTe - which integrates cattle ranches with sugarcane farms.
Previously, the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) reported that the Indonesian Ministry of Trade have issued a recommendation to import 250,00 cattle, which will be done in four separate phases. With the generalised assumption that a cattle costs around US$780-1,050 a piece, the Indonesian government will spend between US$195-262 million to meet import the cattle.
The Minister for Agriculture, Amran Sulaiman, have also been reported to have said that the government plans to import around 10,000 tonnes of beef. "We are coordinating with the Ministry for Trade [to organise the import]," said Amran in Bandung, West Java, last Sunday.
Currently, the price of beef have spiked from between Rp90,000-Rp100,000 to Rp115,000-Rp140,000 per kilogram as Ramadan draws close. The increased price is attributed to the decreased output from local cattle ranchers and feedlots, which falls short of the average demand during the month of Ramadan.
Currently, reserves of beef available stands at 170,000 tonnes. Meanwhile, the demand for beef during the month of Ramadan could reach 250,000 tonnes.
FAIZ NASHRILLAH | AHMAD FIKRI (BANDUNG)
