Indonesia Imports Soybeans; Domestic Output Lower

May 8, 2002

Indonesia's soybean imports for marketing year 2001-02 have continued to increase to approximately 1.5 million tons and for marketing year 2002-03 the total should reach 1.65 million tons. The country faces lower domestic production and growing domestic consumption.

U.S soybean sales are expected to be dominant in the market if the prices remain competitive. The feed mill and poultry industries are recovering and pushing soybean meal imports up to 1.5 million tons in 2002-03. U.S. soybean meal captured 67% of the total market in 2000-01.

However, purchases of U.S. soybean meal still hinge critically on the availability of the GSM-102 program and also on the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture's on-going process of reviewing animal disease status in several countries.

The initial forecast for palm oil production for 2002-03 is 9.5 million tons with exports continuing to increase in spite of the large supply of oilseeds on the world market.