Tofu, Tempe Producers Resume Operating Friday Night

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - A number of tofu and tempe (soybean cake) producers in Jakarta confirmed to resume producing on Friday night (July 27), official of the city's small-medium scale cooperatives and trade affairs office (KUMKMP) said.

"Tofu and tempe will be made available in the market (on Saturday)," the KUMKMP chief Ratna Ningsing said here on Friday, following the soybean hike price.

The price of soybean in the recent days reached Rp7,000 to Rp8,000 per kilogram rising from formerly only Rp5,000 to Rp6,000 causing a strike by soybean cake (tempe) and tofu producers in the country in the past few days.

In Indonesia the price of soybean is vulnerable to supplies from abroad as domestic production could only meet 800,000 to 850,000 kilograms out of the demand of 2.2 million tons.

Many tofu and tempe producers stopped their products for a few days due to soybean hike price.

In the meantime, the tofu and tempe producers and sellers in Bogor (West Java) joined the three-day strike called by Primkopti (the Association of Indonesian Tempe and Tofu Cooperatives).

"The sellers also have decided to express their unity by not working," Mualif, a tempe producer, said in Bogor on Wednesday.

The strike is aimed as a protest against the government, which has failed to control soybean prices, he said.

Meanwhile, the government is taking steps to deal with the soybean crisis that has led to a scarcity of tempe and tofu, according to Coordinating Minister for People`s Welfare Agung Laksono.

Agung stated here on Thursday that the government had already waived import duty on soybean, which used to increase the commodity`s price by 11 percent, adding that state-owned logistics agency Perum Bulog would resume its role as soybean distributor.(*/T007)