Indonesia's Trade Minister, Zulkifli Hasan, has inaugurated the inaugural export of native areca nuts from Lampung Province to Saudi Arabia, with a value exceeding IDR 542 million. "Areca nuts are a native commodity produced in Sumatra, as there are numerous areca nut trees here, and currently, it is the harvest season," stated Zulkifli Hasan in Bandar Lampung on Monday, October 30, 2023. He mentioned that they had facilitated the export of areca nut commodities from Lampung Province to Saudi Arabia. "Our largest destination for areca nut exports is actually India, but they impose excessively high taxes, making the prices unfavourable. The tax is approximately 115%, making it impossible for us to sell to India due to the high cost," he explained.
Therefore, Lampung's farmers have sought potential alternative markets for areca nuts, one of which is Saudi Arabia. "Saudi Arabia is a new export destination that farmers have been able to penetrate. The contract is quite substantial, but this is being carried out in stages," he added. According to him, the volume of Lampung-origin areca nuts exported by PT BUMR BiMU, which is under the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, to Saudi Arabia is 18 tons, valued at IDR 542,932,500. The response to the inaugural export of Lampung's areca nuts was provided by PT BUMR BiMU's Muhammad Arif Setiawan, who is the supplier of these areca nuts. "The areca nuts exported today are mostly from the Tanggamus, West Coast, South Lampung Regencies, and several other areas. The areca nuts sent to Saudi Arabia are of premium quality," explained Muhammad Arif Setiawan. He mentioned that there is a monthly demand for exported areca nuts of 10-15 containers. However, the quality and productivity of areca nuts from Lampung need improvement. "If the areca nuts are sorted and are of non-premium quality, they will still be sold to Bangladesh and Pakistan. Currently, in Lampung, the price of unsorted areca nuts is IDR 4,000 per kilogram, while the sorted ones average around IDR 12,000-13,000 per kilogram," he added.
