PT Sarinah President Director Jimmy M Rifai Gani said here on Sunday that his company was buying cassava from farmers in Central Java`s Cilacap district to meet the need for the commodity from China.
"So far, we have actually planned to export it to South Korea which will re-export the commodity to China. We have not yet met importers in China," he said.
He said that his company would sign a contract agreement with an importer from South Korea. "The first shipment is expected to be carried out in April with a volume of 5,000 tons worth Rp10 billion," he said.
PT Sarinah, he said, will export 5,000 tons of cassava every month to China through an importer in South Korea.
Jimmy said that China had demanded for 13,500 tons of cassava for cattle fodder per month but for the time being his side could only met half of it because his firm had not yet found suppliers at home.
"That is why we are trying to find suppliers in other regions. We will look for ones in Lampung province," he said.
He said that in the long run PT Sarinah will develop cassava farmers in regions so that they would be able to provide supplies for the export needs."This is because most of cassava plantations are cultivated in small scales," he said.(*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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