Indonesia will not import rice in 2012 and instead maintain high stock levels by buying 4 million tonnes of the staple grain from domestic sellers, state procurement agency Bulog said. Southeast Asia's biggest economy and the world's third-largest rice grower, issued permits to import 1.9 million tonnes of rice last year, from Vietnam, Thailand and India.
Indonesia's unmilled rice output is expected to rise 10 percent to 72.02 million tonnes this year as it expands plantation areas. The world's most populous Muslim nation likes to keep large stocks of rice to guard against possible food inflation and production problems should they arise.