Indonesia's Plantation Exports Reach US$25 Bln

Medan, N Sumatra, July 11 (ANYARA) - The value of Indonesia`s plantation exports in 2011 reached US$25 billion (Rp220 trillion), according to Mukti Sarjono, the secretary of the plantation directorate general of the ministry of agriculture. "Of the total, US$15 billion was contributed by oil palm plantation and US$7 billion by rubber plantation," he said at the opening of a training center for plantation statistics officials here on Tuesday. Mukti stated that the remaining US$3 billion came from the exports of various other plantation products. "Most of the plantation exports are from North Sumatra, which has various types of plantations," he said. The revenue earned by the state from the exports did not include export duties, which amounted to Rp2.3 trillion in 2011. North Sumatra Plantation Service head Aspan Sofian Batubar said the province had a plantation area of over 1.99 million hectares, consisting of smallholder plantations as well as plantations belonging to state-owned firm PTPN and foreign-owned firms. With over 1.99 million hectares of plantation, North Sumatra is able to produce more than 19.22 million tonnes of plantation products. In the meantime, the North Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian association of rubber companies announced last week that it would cut down on rubber exports from the province if the global market price remained below US$3 per kg. "The policy, expected to increase the price, is not only for the interest of exporters but also of growers," association leader Tjoe MinFat said here on Thursday. Currently, the price of rubber in the export market is US$2.96 per kilogram. "There should be concrete step to raise the price," Tjoe stated. He said three of the world`s largest rubber producers - Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia - had recently met to find ways to end the slump in global rubber price. "There has been no concrete decision yet, although the three countries are considering cutting down on their exports," Tjoe added. "The rubber companies and farmers in North Sumatra, the country`s largest rubber producer, cannot wait much longer," he explained. Last year, North Sumatra exported 537,670 tonnes of rubber - an increase of 4.64 percent from the previous year. Association spokesman Edy Irwansyah said rubber exports from that province shrank 12 percent year-on-year to 203,064 tonnes in the first five months of 2012. He attributed the shrinking production to bad weather, adding that the decline could be much more year with the planned cut in exports.