KONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA. Indonesia has imported 650,000 metric tons of rice and signed import contracts for another 350,000 tons for 2024, the head of the State Food Procurement agency (Bulog) said on Tuesday.

Of the 1 million tons agreed for importation, more than half would come from Vietnam and the rest from Thailand, Pakistan, and Cambodia, Bulog's chief executive Bayu Krisnamurthi told reporters.

The imports are part of Indonesia's 3.6 million tons rice import quota for 2024.

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Prices for rice in Indonesia have risen about 20% since last year after the El Nino weather phenomenon cut rainfall across the largest part of Asia in 2023, reducing output and adding to food inflation.

Indonesia is expected to have a domestic surplus of 1.7 million tons of the grain in the first half of 2024, the agriculture ministry said last week, as harvests starting from March would offset weak crop output earlier this year.

Editor: Yudho Winarto