Indonesia leverages surplus, global prices to pursue rice exports

Medan (ANTARA) - Indonesia aims to seize rice export opportunities by riding on rising global prices, surplus production, and domestic market stability, according to Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman.

“Indonesia will take advantage of surging global prices. Indonesia will certainly take that path because some countries are requesting imports. Negotiations are underway,” he remarked in Medan, North Sumatra, on Thursday.

Data from Trading Economics showed that the world rice price stood at US$13.75 per metric quintal as of July 15, up from US$12.48 recorded on June 23.

Sulaiman emphasized the importance of Indonesia capitalizing on the global trend while leveraging strong national stocks and output, reflected in 5.3 million metric tons of government reserves managed by state logistics firm Bulog.

He observed that the favorable domestic outlook had enabled Indonesia to strengthen food security and maintain affordable rice prices for residents amid emerging dynamics affecting food costs worldwide.

The minister confirmed that Indonesia had received rice trade requests from several countries, including Malaysia and Singapore, noting that talks are still ongoing.

He echoed President Prabowo Subianto’s directive to achieve self-sufficiency in food commodities by boosting national production to ensure adequate supplies for domestic needs while exploring export avenues.

He further reinforced the government’s ambition to expand self-sufficiency beyond rice, pointing to ongoing efforts to process a wide range of commodities into higher-value products across the plantation, horticulture, and livestock sectors.

“Mr. President has ordered to boost production, maintain self-sufficiency, and roll out downstreaming efforts in the plantation, horticulture, and livestock sectors,” the minister concluded.

The Ministry of Agriculture reported that Indonesia’s food self-sufficiency ratio ranged from 91.04 percent to 98.88 percent during 2020-2023 before declining to 87.14 percent in 2024.

The ratio rebounded to 110.25 percent in 2025, according to the ASEAN Food Security Information System, indicating that Indonesia regained food self-sufficiency that year.

The improvement was driven largely by higher rice production. National output increased from 30.62 million tons in 2024 to 34.69 million tons in 2025, supported by an expansion in harvested area from 10.05 million hectares to 11.32 million hectares.

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Translator: M. Harianto, Tegar Nurfitra

Editor: Azis Kurmala

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