JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Indonesia’s wheat flour imports declined by 40% in 2017-18 to 50,000 tonnes of wheat equivalent, according to a Dec. 4 Global Agricultural Information Network report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The USDA said the decline is mainly due to the continued weakness of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar.

“Domestic flour will continue to dominate the market throughout 2017-18 with a 98.9% market share,” the USDA said.

According to Global Trade Atlas data, Turkey held the largest market share of wheat flour exports to Indonesia at 52%, followed by Romania (18%), South Korea (11%) and Canada (5%).

The report also noted that Indonesia’s noodle industry continues to grow rapidly, consuming 70% of Indonesia’s wheat flour.

The USDA said higher consumption of wheat flour-based food increased 2017-18 wheat consumption for food and industrial (FSI) consumption by 3.6% to 8.5 million tonnes of wheat equivalent compared to 8.2 million tonnes in 2016-17.

Consumption by FSI is forecast to further increase to 8.8 million tonnes in 2018-19, the USDA said.