Mongolia and Burma have had recent outbreaks of the highly infectious livestock virus. Traders said Indonesia might be playing safe as some health organisations, such as the disease-specialist Office International des Epizooties, believed the disease was endemic in China. Some traders believe Jakarta might have imposed the ban due to its recent fruitless palm-oil mission to China and India. Last week, Indonesian and Malaysian ministers visited India to persuade New Delhi to cut edible-oil import duties, and China to urge Beijing to import more palm oil, but both trips hit snags. Jakarta's ban was unlikely to affect China and India's grain trade, though it is expected to disrupt Indonesia's grain imports, which have been hit by a recent ban on cheaper grains from Argentina and the weak rupiah.
China is a supplier of corn to Indonesia, while India is the country's main soy meal supplier.
It will not affect the overall trade because Chinese corn has not been going to Indonesia anyway. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.