Minister of Industry: Petrochemical Industry Improving Domestic Investment

By : Ridwan And Aldi Firhand. A | Sunday, May 20 2018 - 19:45 IWST

Minister of Industry, Airlangga Hartarto when inaugurated the oleochemical plant Sinar Mas Cepsa

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta, Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartarto said at least there are three companies that have expressed interest to invest in the development of petrochemical industry sector in Indonesia, namely PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk., Lotte Chemical Titan, and large Thai manufacturer, Siam Cement Group (SCG).

"They will produce the needs of naphtha cracker based chemical raw materials in the country so that we will no longer need to import," Airlangga said in Jakarta (20/5/2018).

According to him, Indonesia has the potential to become the center of growth of petrochemical industry and will be more competitive in ASEAN level with the increasing investment and expansion of several domestic producers.

"This shows that Indonesia is still an investment destination country as government efforts continue to create a conducive business climate," he said.

SCG plans to build a $ 5.5 billion naphtha cracker production facility in Cilegon, Banten. The soon-to-be-built petrochemical plant will have a production capacity of 1.2 million tons per year.

"This investment creates employment and increases the added value, the production results also to meet the needs of domestic and export markets," said Airlangga.

Ministry of Industry noted, naphtha cracker from the national industrial production currently only reach 900 thousand tons per year, while domestic demand of 1.6 million tons.

The petrochemical industry is designated as one of the strategic upstream sectors as it provides raw materials for almost all downstream sectors, such as the plastics industry, textiles, paints, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

"Therefore, sustainability in the development of petrochemical industry is very important for economic activity," he said.

"With its capital-intensive, technology-intensive, and energy-conscious nature, the development of the petrochemical industry needs to get special attention from the government," explained Minister of Industry.