Bilateral Trade: Singapore disputes Indonesia's banning of sand exports

Singapore has said that Indonesia's grounds for banning sand exports are unjustified.
Indonesia banned exports of concreting sand last month citing environmental concerns and fears that exports would shrink Indonesia's borders.

However, Minister of National Development Mah Bow Tan, told Parliament that the claims were not justified, and that the price of the exports was supposed to factor in environmental degradation.

"Based on what we know, the Indonesian sand suppliers who are licensed by the Indonesian government are obliged to plough some of their proceeds ... into environmental reconstruction, and that is built into the price of the sand," he said.

Indonesia is the main exporter of sand to Singapore.

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