(Eagle News) — Talks are in the works for Indonesia to provide the Philippines with fertilizer and more coal for the country’s agriculture and energy needs respectively.
Philippine president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr mentioned this as one of the results of his talks with his Indonesian counterpart President Joko Widodo.
Marcos Jr., who is also serving as the secretary of the Department of Agriculture said that he brought up the subject of agriculture as well as energy, in his discussions with Widodo.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. on Tuesday said the country would tap Indonesia for fertilizer supply after his “very productive” meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
He also cited the trade imbalance between the two countries.
“The trade between Indonesia and the Philippines, increased by 50 percent in ‘21. ‘Yun lamang. There’s a trade imbalance really between Indonesia and the Philippines. So I said we should find ways to turn that around,” President Marcos Jr said.
“And I brought up the subject of agriculture, again because that is in my mind a very important subject that needs to be discussed. And we talked about the possibility of them supplying us with fertilizer with Urea of Indonesia, increasing its trade also for our energy because much of our coal comes from Indonesia,” he explained.
The Philippines is a net importer of fertilizers, at 95 percent, and thus is highly dependent on international market conditions, accordig to the DA. The country requires an average of 2.6 million tons (MT) of various fertilizer grades yearly.
According to the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), global fertilizer prices have been increasing since May 2021.
Global fertilizer prices are also at “near record levels and may remain elevated throughout 2022 and beyond,” according to the US Department of Agriculture.
Indonesia is also one of the top 10 countries considered as major global fertilizer suppliers, as of 2017 to 2019 data.
-Coal tops exports of Indonesia to Philippines-
In 2020 and 2021, coal briquettes were the top exports of Indonesia to the Philippines.
“In August 2021 the top imports of Philippines from Indonesia were Coal Briquettes ($236M),Cars ($66.8M),Motorcycles and cycles ($56.7M),Coffee and Tea Extracts ($29.7M),Semi-Finished Iron ($24.8M),” according to data from the OEC or the Observatory of Economic Complexities (OEC).
In August 2020, the figure for Indonesian coal exports to the country were mugh higher at $1.27B, based on OEC figures.
President Marcos Jr., said “there was a time a few weeks” where Indonesia stopped the export of coal to the country.
“Nakiusap tayo sa kanila at sinama naman tayo doon sa listahan na bibigyan nila. Mag-export sila ng coal,” he said in a press briefing on Wednesday, Sept. 6 in Indonesia before he departed for Singapore.
“We talked about then the place of the renewable energies because coal nga is not seen as the most environmentally friendly fuel. Sabi ko, ‘How do we shift? How does Indonesia plan to shift to renewable?’ Pinag-usapan din namin ‘yun,” he added.
Marcos earlier said his administration is trying to look at non-traditional sources of fertilizer supply and expressed willingness to pursue government-to-government deals to avail cheaper fertilizers.
(Eagle News Service)