The current price of soybean in Indonesia is around Rp9,000-10,000 per kilogram, an increase from the earlier price of about Rp7,000.Bandung, W Java (ANTARA News) - Producers in at least five districts in West Java Province stopped distributing `tempe` and tofu soybean fermented cakes to consumers on Monday due to soybean price increases.
According to the local industry and trade office, tempe and tofu producers have stopped production for September 9-11, 2013 in protest against the high price of imported soybean which rose from about Rp7,000 per kg to Rp9,000-10,000 per kg in the country.
"We have received an initial report that tofu and tempe have disappeared in five to six districts in West Java. The districts included Bandung, Depok and Cianjur," Ferry Sofwan Arif, head of West Java`s Trade and Industry Office, said.
He said that his office understood the aim of producers to stage the strike.
"But they should pay attention to the fate of traders and workers if producers want to stage a strike," he said.
He said that tempe tofu industry still needed to pay their workers even if they stopped production. Therefore, he hoped that the strike would last only for one day.
"We hope they would stop production only for one day. Because the people need tahu and tempe. This is a popular side dishes," he added.
Tempe and tofu producers have earlier threatened to stop production following the high rocketing of soybean price at home.
According to the Association of Tofu and Tempe Producers (Gakoptindo), its members will halt production between September 9 and 11 to protest rising soybean prices.
"The increasing price of soybeans, as a result of the rupiah`s depreciation against the US dollar, has forced many tofu and tempe producers to reduce their production or reduce the size of their work force. The aim of the protest is to warn the government and put pressure on it to address this matter immediately," said Gakoptindo Chairman Aip Syarifudin on Thursday.
The current price of soybean in Indonesia is around Rp9,000-10,000 per kilogram, an increase from the earlier price of about Rp7,000.
The worldwide increase in the price of soybeans significantly affected the price at home, since about 70 percent of the country`s soybeans are imported.
Domestic production is only 700 thousand tons, while domestic demand has reached 2.5 million tons of soybeans per year.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2013
