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Jakarta, CNN Indonesia –
Artisans know and tempe of DKI Jakarta complains about the price rise soy that’s too high. This is because this has an impact on their tofu and tempe businesses which depend on raw materials from soybeans.
The president of the Indonesian Tempe and Tofu Cooperatives Association (Gakoptindo), Aip Syaifuddin, revealed the reason behind the high price of soybeans lately. According to him, the price increase occurred because it followed the international market prices.
This is because about 80 percent of the demand for soybeans in Indonesia is covered by imports from the United States, Brazil and several other countries. Meanwhile, less than 20 percent is satisfied by local production.
This makes the price of imported soybeans in the country highly dependent on the movements of the price of soybeans in the international market. In addition, Aip said that the rise in soybean prices on world markets was due to China buying up US soybean production.
“The biggest buyer of soybeans in the world is China, which has around 70 million tons per year. All producing countries sell to China because they buy good grades,” Aip said. CNNIndonesia.com, Saturday (2/1).
Aip suspects that China’s demand for soybeans will rise as trade tensions between the United States and the bamboo-curtain country ease. This caused China to buy back soy products from Uncle Sam’s country.
“Unlike during the trade war, purchases were down, so stocks were plentiful and prices were cheap. Now stocks are low,” he said.
Due to this condition, Gakoptindo proposed to the Ministry of Agriculture to increase national soy products. This is because almost all soybeans for tofu and tempeh are imported at this time.
In 2019, for example, Indonesia imported 2.63 tonnes of soybeans for tofu and tempe. Meanwhile, the local soy is only about 400-500 thousand tons.
This makes Indonesian tofu and tempe entrepreneurs vulnerable to fluctuations in the price of soybeans.
“We have asked the Ministry of Agriculture for the long-term production level. This is the momentum. Because if imported soy goes up a lot, producers will definitely prefer local soybeans over imported,” he said.
Furthermore, the tofu and tempe entrepreneurs also organized a production strike against the current high price of soybeans. The production strike will take place from January 1-3, 2021.
(Lane / DEA)
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