Indonesia restricts cassava ethanol imports to protect farmers' interests

The Minister of Trade has recently signed the Trade Minister's Regulation formally restricting the import of cassava (singkong) and ethanol (etanol).The policy was introduced at the behest of President Prabowo to protect domestic agriculture and the sugar industry.

The government requires cassava and cassava products (e.g., cassava starch) to be imported with a Producer Importer (API-P) license, and ethanol imports to go through an Import Approval (PI) mechanism. It also requires the Ministry of Industry to issue a technical recommendation or a commodity balance sheet, and Customs to strengthen import controls.

Previously unrestricted importscausing the price of sugarcane molasses to plummet from 2,000 rupiah/kg to 900 rupiah and cassava prices to fall below the cost of production (740 rupiah/kg).Farmers' groups continue to protest, threatening further demonstrations.

The government expects the new regulations toStabilizing the incomes of sugarcane and cassava farmers and securing the domestic ethanol supply chain, while balancing industrial feedstock demand with agricultural productionThe