Judul: Marketing analysis of salt in Sumenep Dsitrict, East Java
Abstrak: Sumenep District is one of salt producing areas in Indonesia. Salt plays an important role in almost all industrial processes and production because salt does not have a substitute good, therefore salt becomes a strategic commodity. So far, the link of the salt chain trade system is controlled by several companies, where downstream activities are dominated by large -scale industry with strong network while upstream activities are dominated by salt management activities with simple technology (Ministry of Marine and Fisheries, 2012). In the marketing process, farmers are conditioned as marginal salt producers which cannot contribute, both in price determination and the technical determination of the quality of the salt produced. This is due to the limited access for farmer to get the information about quality and price developments that make the majority of farmers to have weak bargaining position then finally have the tendency to be the price taker. This condition then becomes worse because of other factors such as limited facility and infrastructure, limited access to capital, and limited access to enter the market that lead farmers to limitation choice for marketing channels. Based on the condition above, author expects that the salt marketing in Sumenep today is inefficient. Therefore, Analysis of salt marketing by using structure, conduct and performance (SCP) approach is needed. This study aims to analyze the structure, conduct and performance of salt market in Sumenep. Research locations were selected intentionally (purposive), while respondents were randomly selected (simple random sampling) through their marketing chain. The analysis showed that the salt marketing in Sumenep is inefficient, unfair and not transparent. It is concluded by structure, conduct, and performance approach of the salt market. Structure analysis indicated that the market structure of the salt industry in Sumenep tends to be oligopsonistic. It is inferred from several indicators: (a) the unbalanced number of participants (between sellers and buyers) in the market, (b) high market concentration which dominated by few competitors, (c) the existence of barriers to entry the market, from the capital, networks, licensing to technology. Conduct analysis for the market suggested that there is a dominant institution for marketing activities; the processing company. Cooperation and dishonest practices also occur in the marketing process. Dishonest practices can be seen from (a) the collective traders are also agents (accomplices) of a company, ( b) the salt sale does not accompanied by accurate weighing (c) dominant price is determined by these marketing agencies. Market performance analysis showed that the salt marketing is not yet efficient. Uneven profit with the remuneration in the marketing functions performed, the low farmer share in all channels (≤20%), and also the unintegrated market, both in the short run and long run become the causal factor why the increasing price in the retail level can not be transmitted to the farm level.
Keyword: small holding salt farmers, structure, conduct, performance