The Domestic Petrochemical Industry Still Relying on Imported Raw Materials

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - Vice Chairman of Industry of Kadin Indonesia, Johnny Darmawan said, 50% of raw material needs of petrochemical industry in the country still rely on imports.

"Nearly 50% of industrial raw materials to meet the demand of the petrochemical sector are still imported," said Johnny Darmawan, Vice Chairman of Kadin Indonesia Industry in Focus Group Discussion (FGD) Building Sustainable Industry Sector Review Upstream Oil and Gas Sector and Petrochemicals held Kadin Indonesia in Tower of Kadin, Jakarta, Thursday (25/1/2017).

He added that the current domestic petrochemical raw material demand reached 5.6 million tons per year. "From that amount, the fulfillment of new demand reaches approximately 2.45 million tons per year," he explained.

Furthermore, he revealed, the market of petrochemical products, from upstream, between, and downstream is very large. However, the domestic market is dominated by imported products. "With such a structure, practically the national petrochemical industry is difficult to compete," said Johnny.

According to him, this condition becomes a challenge for the government and business actors. If the upstream oil and gas and petrochemical industries are not immediately addressed then the national industry can not yet lead to sustainable industry status.

Meanwhile, Chairman of Standing Committee of Kadin Indonesia Chemical & Petrochemical Industry, Rauf Purnama said the petrochemical industry can actually contribute greatly to the country to reduce the dependence of raw material imports, increase foreign exchange of exportable products, and open up extensive employment .

"Furthermore, the petrochemical industry also has a strategic position in the development of the industry as a whole in the production chain across industry sectors," Rauf said.

Therefore, Kadin Indonesia assesses the upstream sector of the industry needs to get serious attention in the structuring of national industrial structure.

"In addition to supplying various types of raw materials for other industries, downstream petrochemical industry also supplies the daily needs of the community," he said.