Indonesia sets beef, buffalo meat import targets for 2020

Indonesia will likely need to import 60,000 tonnes of buffalo meat for retail consumers, 129,000 tonnes of beef and buffalo meat for the food industry, and 550,000 head of feeder cattle in 2020, an agriculture ministry official said on Thursday.

The government will decide next week who gets the import licences and the sources, said Agung Hendriadi, head of the food security agency at the ministry.

Imports from Brazil, Argentina and Australia are being considered based on pricing, he told reporters after attending an inter-agency coordinating meeting on food supply.

Indonesia also buys water buffalo meat from India as substitute for beef.

"We will buy the cheap ones," Hendriadi said, adding that state procurement agency Bulog was likely to be tasked with importing the buffalo meat next year.

Bulog was issued an import quota of 100,000 tonnes of water buffalo meat for this year, but has only used 80% of it, he added.

(Reporting by Wilda Asmarini; Writing by Gayatri Suroyo; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)