Indonesia's consumption of wheat flour is expected to rise 6 percent to 4.028 million tonnes in 2010, from an estimated 3.8 million tonnes in 2009, an industry official said on Friday. "Consumer demand will pick up in line with economic growth. Demand from small and medium-scale industries will also grow," Franciscus Welirang, chairman of the Indonesian Wheat Flour Producers Association, told reporters.
He said consumption has been consistently rising 6-7 percent a year in recent few years despite the global financial crisis and high wheat prices. Southeast Asia's biggest economy is expected to expand 5.5 percent in 2010, up from 4.3 percent this year. Indonesia, which is Asia's second-largest wheat importer after Japan, relies entirely on wheat imports to produce flour.
Wheat purchases for next year are likely to grow 5 percent from 4.5 million tonnes estimated for this year. Indonesia buys wheat from Canada, the United States, Australia, countries in Eastern Europe, Argentina and China. The association had expected Australia to regain its position as the country's biggest wheat supplier this year following better harvests.