History of Sugar Imports 2013-2023, From Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan to Zulhas

Indonesia's sugar import volume has shown an upward trend over the past decade.

According to the *Indonesia Sugarcane Statistics* report released by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), national sugar imports in 2013 were around 3 million tons.

Since then, import volume has fluctuated with an upward tendency, reaching approximately 5 million tons in 2023.

The data recorded here represents the import volume of sugar with the Harmonized System (HS) code 1701, encompassing cane sugar, other cane sugar, sugar with flavoring/coloring agents, refined sugar, and other unrefined sugar.

The highest sugar import volume in the last decade was recorded in 2022, during Muhammad Lutfi's tenure as Minister of Trade, reaching 6 million tons.

The following details the annual sugar import volume, along with the names of the Trade Ministers in office during those years:

* 2013: 3.34 million tons, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan
* 2014: 2.93 million tons, Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi
* 2015: 3.37 million tons, Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel
* 2016: 4.75 million tons, Trade Minister Thomas Lembong
* 2017: 4.48 million tons, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita
* 2018: 5.03 million tons, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita
* 2019: 4.09 million tons, Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita
* 2020: 5.54 million tons, Trade Minister Agus Suparmanto
* 2021: 5.48 million tons, Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi
* 2022: 6.01 million tons, Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi
* 2023: 5.07 million tons, Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas)

Thomas Lembong, Trade Minister from August 2015 to July 2016, was named a suspect in a sugar import corruption case in October 2024.

He is suspected of granting sugar import permits that violated regulations during his tenure.

"With the knowledge and approval of the suspect [Thomas Lembong], import permits for raw sugar (GKM) were signed for nine private companies. For stock replenishment and price stabilization, refined white sugar (GKP) should have been imported directly," said the Director of Investigation at the Attorney General's Office for Special Crimes, Abdul Qohar, as reported by *Detik.com* on Thursday, October 30, 2024.

The Attorney General's Office also opened the possibility of investigating other former Trade Ministers regarding similar cases.

"It is not impossible that, over time, we will move in that direction [investigating other Trade Ministers]," said Abdul Qohar, as reported by *CNNIndonesia.com* on Friday, November 1, 2024.