Indonesia may struggle to deliver on new US farm import promises, traders say
#Indonesia-US trade deal #Agricultural imports #Soymeal imports #Berdikari #Trade tensions #Wheat imports #Soybean imports
📌 Key Takeaways
- Indonesia may struggle to meet increased agricultural import commitments to the US
- Indonesia pledged to significantly increase imports of wheat, soybeans, and soymeal
- The most challenging commitment is the 1,600% increase in soymeal imports
- Indonesia has tasked state-owned Berdikari with handling the increased feed-grain purchases
📖 Full Retelling
Traders in Indonesia and Singapore expressed concerns on February 25, 2026, that Indonesia may struggle to deliver on its new promises to significantly increase agricultural imports from the United States, following a trade deal finalized last week that lowers US tariffs on Indonesian goods to 19% from 32%. Under the new agreement, Indonesia committed to substantially ramp up imports of several key agricultural products from the US, pledging to increase annual wheat imports to 2 million metric tons from 1.1 million tons in 2025, boost soybean purchases to 3.5 million tons from 2.2 million tons, and dramatically increase soymeal imports to 3.8 million tons from just 216,257 tons in the previous year. Traders noted that while Indonesia has already increased its wheat imports from 750,000 tons in 2024 to 1.1 million tons in 2025, they doubt the country can reach the committed 2 million tons, with one international trading company supplier estimating maximum purchases at 1.25-1.3 million tons in 2026. The most significant challenge appears to be the soymeal import commitment, which represents an increase of over 1,600% from 2025 levels, forcing Indonesia to rely on its state-owned animal feed importer Berdikari, which has been assigned to import approximately 5 million tons of soybean meal in 2026 to supply feed mills and smallholder chicken farmers, though the company is still awaiting government regulations for the imports.
🏷️ Themes
Trade Agreements, Agricultural Imports, Economic Challenges
Entity Intersection Graph
No entity connections available yet for this article.
Original Source
try{ var _=i o; . if(!_||_&&typeof _==="object"&&_.expiry Gold prices rebound on tariff jitters; silver, platinum and copper rally Nvidia, Salesforce earnings loom large - what’s moving markets AMD stock surges 14% on Meta AI partnership deal Bitcoin slips, wipes out 50% from October record high at session low (South Africa Philippines Nigeria) Indonesia may struggle to deliver on new US farm import promises, traders say By Reuters Commodities Published 02/25/2026, 04:12 AM Updated 02/25/2026, 04:19 AM Indonesia may struggle to deliver on new US farm import promises, traders say 0 ZS 0.43% ZW -0.24% ZC 0.31% ZM 0.90% By Bernadette Christina, Dewi Kurniawati and Naveen Thukral JAKARTA/SINGAPORE, Feb 25 - Indonesia could struggle to meet its pledge for a significant ramp-up of U.S. agricultural imports under its new trade deal, traders said, with the burden of vastly increasing U.S. soymeal purchases falling on a state agency newly tasked to buy animal feed. Indonesia last week finalised a deal that lowers U.S. tariffs on its goods to 19% from 32%, with key commodities including palm oil, cocoa and rubber exempted from import duties. In return, Indonesia pledged to raise annual U.S. wheat imports to 2 million metric tons from 1.1 million tons last year, boost soybean purchases to 3.5 million tons from 2.2 million tons, and increase soymeal imports to 3.8 million tons from 216,257 tons, among other commitments. "Indonesian millers are already buying more U.S. wheat," said a trader at an international trading company which supplies wheat and feed grains to Indonesia, noting the country’s buying of U.S. wheat increased to 1.1 million tons in 2025, up from 750,000 tons a year earlier. "At best, they can buy 1.25 or 1.3 million tons in 2026." SOYBEANS AND SOYMEAL The U.S., a major supplier of agricultural goods, is seeking to diversify farm exports to markets beyond top buyer China, which is curbing purchases amid trade tensions with Washington. For soybeans, Indonesia alr...
Read full article at source