Indonesian state trading firm PT Rajawali Nusantara Indonesia (RNI) is to hold a tender on Wednesday at 0600 GMT to buy 35,000 tonnes of white sugar for April delivery, an official said.
"We have invited 33 trading firms, but only five are going to participate in the tender," RNI spokesman Agung Murdanoto said.
The sugar should arrive at Indonesian ports no later than April 30, in line with the expiry date on government import permits. However, Murdanoto said an extended delivery period was possible.
High world prices had forced the firm to delay the purchase last month. The firm bought 50,000 tonnes from Britain's Tate & Lyle in February at $224.5 per tonne cost, insurance, and freight, for end-March deliveries.
Indonesia, with a population of some 220 million, is among the world's biggest sugar importers, mainly from Thailand.
A porous border makes the country a target for rampant commodities smuggling.
Officials have called for the destruction next week of hundreds of tonnes of smuggled sugar at a key port in Jakarta that was found earlier this year.