by Hayati Nupus

JAKARTA, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The rising price of instant noodles is not a problem for Maria Ulfa, an employee at a private company in Indonesia's capital Jakarta.

At the moment, she worried that instant noodles might get scarce, and she would not be able to get them due to the impact of the ongoing Ukraine crisis.

"I can't imagine how bleak my life would be without instant noodles, without its tantalizing aroma and delicious broth," Ulfa, who eats instant noodles almost every day, told Xinhua.

Ukraine is one of the world's biggest exporters of wheat, from which instant noodles are made. The shipping of wheat from Ukraine to the rest of the world, including Indonesia, has been hampered recently due to its military conflict with Russia.

"Since January there has been no import of wheat from Ukraine. There are still 1,200 tons of Indonesian orders that have not been shipped," said Chairman of the Indonesian Wheat Flour Producers Association (Aptindo) Franciscus Welirang, who is also director of PT Indofood Sukses Makmur Tbk that produces Indomie instant noodles and oversees flour company PT Bogasari Flour Mills.

Wheat-based food producers in Indonesia are looking for alternative suppliers due to limited stock of wheat, Welirang said.

Aptindo noted that Indonesia imported a total of 11.5 million tons of wheat from various countries last year, including 3 million tons for producing wheat flour.

Australia is Indonesia's main source of wheat, which is relatively expensive, but logistics costs are lower as the continent is geographically closer to the archipelago.

Other sources of wheat for Indonesia are Brazil, Argentina, Pakistan, India, the United States, Canada and Ukraine.

Due to crop failures in Australia in 2019, as well as in Canada, the United States, and Russia from 2020 to 2021, Indonesia has been importing about 3 million tons of wheat annually from Ukraine.

"At that time the price of wheat in Ukraine was cheaper, but since last August its wheat price has become higher," Welirang said.

Crop failures in various countries have triggered rising wheat prices in the global market, exacerbated by high logistics costs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Welirang added.

Bogasari needs about 4 million tons of wheat annually to produce flour.

However, Welirang remains optimistic that there are many ways to supply wheat to Indonesia, as he saw a ray of hope in India where wheat harvests are increasing, and Argentina where wheat farming conditions are improving.

Executive Director of Aptindo Ratna Loppies expressed her optimism that despite the rising prices, wheat flour sales in Indonesia increased 1.2 percent in the first quarter of this year to 2.26 million tons.

"Indonesian people like products made from flour such as bread, noodles, and fried cakes," said Loppies.

Loppies added that currently wheat flour entrepreneurs in Indonesia have shifted their orders to India, the United States and Australia for the time being, hoping that the Ukraine crisis could end soon and world trade could go back to normal. Enditem

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