The average wholesale price of rice increased by 2.26% year-on-year (YoY) to Rp 12,106/kg in December 2018, compared to Rp 11,838/kg in December 2017. This increase is lower than the 3.15% YoY increase recorded in 2017. Meanwhile, the average rice price in January 2019 rose by 0.87% to Rp 12,211/kg compared to the end of last year.
At the milling level, the average price of low-quality rice in December 2018 increased by 1.32% YoY to Rp 9,432/kg, and medium-quality rice increased by 2.86% YoY to Rp 9,798/kg. Premium-quality rice, however, decreased by 0.43% YoY to Rp 9,818/kg.
The farmer exchange rate for food crops in December 2018 reached 107.03, a 4.14-point increase YoY. The index of prices received by farmers increased by 7.66 points to 146.93 YoY in December 2018, while the index of prices paid by farmers increased by only 3.5 points to 137.28 YoY. This means the increase in prices received by farmers was greater than the increase in prices they paid.