Jakarta: State-owned food company ID FOOD will step up its purchase of locally produced sugar after receiving a Rp1.5 trillion (around US$91 million) loan from PT Danantara Asset Management. The move is intended to stabilize sugar prices and ease the problem of excess stock at mills, reports Antara News.
“With this funding, we can buy sugar from farmers at the government’s set price, giving them fair earnings and certainty,” said ID FOOD President Director Ghimoyo in a statement on Friday.
The purchase scheme includes sugar from mills owned by PT PG Sinergi Gula Nusantara (SGN) and ID FOOD. By August, the company had absorbed 58,000 tons of sugar—21,500 tons from SGN mills, 8,500 tons from ID FOOD mills, 6,900 tons bought directly from farmers by SGN, and 21,500 tons taken up by trader groups.
Ghimoyo said it was important to stop refined sugar from slipping into the consumer market, as this had pushed down farm-level prices and left large volumes unsold.
He added that the program reflects ID FOOD’s responsibility to keep key food prices steady and support local farmers.
“By paying farmers competitive prices, we’re motivating them to continue planting sugarcane, which is vital for long-term food security,” he said.
