Indonesia's soya imports to be flat

Indonesia soyabean imports are expected to be flat at 1.7 million tonnes this year, on steady domestic demand and production, said the chairman of the National Soyabean Board on Wednesday. "There is no significant increase in domestic demand. Production is likely to be flat this year because we don't see any increase in planted areas," said Benny Kusbini.
Indonesia expects soyabean production to increase nearly 3 percent to 934,000 tonnes this year, from 908,110 tonnes in 2010, the state statistics agency said in its first grains forecast for 2011 earlier this month. The country imports 70 percent of its annual soyabean requirements, mostly from the United States, the world's top exporter.
Indonesia has been struggling to increase soyabean production to stop its reliance on imported soyabeans and aims to scrap soyabean imports by 2014. But production has not increased significantly. Soyabeans are used to make tempe and tofu, popular as cheaper substitutes for meat, as well as soya sauce.