Indonesia sees six percent growth in annual soyabean demand

Indonesia's annual soyabean consumption will grow by up to 6 percent because of an increase in population, but Southeast Asia's largest economy is unlikely to reach self-sufficiency in 2014, chairman of the National Soyabean Board said on Thursday.
Indonesia is struggling to increase soyabean production to stop its reliance on imported grains and aims to scrap imports by 2014, but domestic output has not increased significantly because of land constraints and low productivity. "Consumption will increase by 4 to 6 percent annually because of population growth," said Benny Kusbini, who pegged Indonesia's consumption at 2.4 million tonnes in 2011.
"Imports range from 1.6 to 1.8 million tonnes, and they can also reach 2 million tonnes. My calculation shows that imports will not fall below 1.6 million tonnes they may reach 1.8 million tonnes this year," he added. In March, the National Soyabean Board, which groups farmers and producers, expected imports to be flat at 1.7 million tonnes in 2011.
Indonesia, home to around 230 million people, imports 70 percent of its annual soyabean requirements, mostly from the United States, the world's top exporter. Soyabean is mainly grown in the main island of Java and also in parts of Sumatra.
The state statistics agency forecast 2011 soyabean production at 819,450 tonnes, down from versus previous forecast of 934,000 tonnes, and lower than around 908,000 tonnes last year. "Soyabean productivity in Indonesia is low at around 800 to 1,200 kg per hectare. If you look at Brazil, it's already reached 2.6 million tonnes, while in the US and Canada, productivity is 2.8 million tonnes," said Kusbini.
"If we can't boost productivity, we should at least expand plantations. I think it's impossible to say there's self-sufficiency by 2014 given the uncertainty in the procurement of new land." Indonesia should at least add 1.5 million hectares of land in the next three years if it were to be self sufficient in soyabeans, used to make tempe and tofu - popular as cheaper substitutes for meat, as well as soya sauce, said Kusbini. Soyabean plantations cover around 900,000 hectares of land in Indonesia.
"We also have to bear in mind that the 900,000 hectares are not necessarily land specifically allocated for soyabeans," said Kusbini. "Only after growing rice, then farmers will cultivate soyabeans," adding that the grain is still considered as a supplementary crop. The CBOT ovember soya contract rose above $13.80 a bushel in Asian trade on Thursday.