JAKARTA, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Indonesia has issued an import permit for 50,000 live cattle to state procurement agency Bulog, the trade minister said on Monday, doubling the number of cows the country can import in the third quarter to counter rising beef prices.
Last month, as part of an ongoing push for self-sufficiency, Indonesia slashed the initial number of cattle import permits to 50,000 for the third quarter, less than a fifth of what was allowed in the previous three months.
That has led to beef prices that are about one-third higher than the agency's target price of 90,000 rupiah ($6.65) per kg, said Bulog CEO Djarot Kusumayakti.
Several traditional markets across Java will refuse to sell beef for four days this week, local media reported on Monday, in a protest against prices they said had risen to more than 120,000 rupiah ($8.86) per kg.
Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel told reporters on Monday that he had boosted the cattle import numbers by issuing the new permits to Bulog.
Bulog CEO Kusumayakti said his agency would aim to begin the imports soon - likely to be its first of live beef cattle.
Earlier this year, an industry group in Indonesia warned of rising beef prices after the government introduced a law banning imports of offal and secondary beef cuts.
Beef prices are currently 50 percent higher than around 80,000 rupiah per kg a year ago.
Australia, the world's third-largest beef exporter, supplied around 40 percent of the beef consumed in Indonesia last year.
After the worst U.S. drought in 56 years drove global prices of soybean and corn to all-time highs in 2012, Indonesia said it would gradually expand Bulog's purchases beyond rice to build bigger stockpiles of beef, corn, sugar and soybeans.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has been pushing for a bigger role for Bulog in food imports and domestic price controls, and in June signed a decree allowing the government to cap prices of staple foods during peak demand periods.
As part of its self-sufficiency drive and to protect local farmers, Southeast Asia's biggest economy halted imports of corn used in feed mills last week, and indicated that it would only allow Bulog to import corn from next year.
Government officials have cited dry weather, food hoarding and speculators for fluctuating food prices this year.
($1 = 13,538 rupiah)