JAKARTA - The value of salt export in 2019 reached US$37 billion with a raw material import value of US$108 million, said Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita.
The figures, he said, reflect the significant added value of salt raw material import in the economic activity cycle.
“Salt import has an extraordinary added value for our salt industry, because by importing US$108 million worth of raw materials the industry managed to post an export value of US$37 billion,” Mr Kartasasmita said after a limited meeting led by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo at Merdeka Palace as quoted from Antara, Monday (5/10).
“We can imagine the high added value provided by the downstreaming of the salt industry.”
According to Mr Kartasasmita, the demand for industrial salt raw materials will continue to increase. The Ministry of Industry’s data shows that the demand for industrial salt in 2020 increased by 6.8% from the previous year.
“Going forward, we predict that the demand will continue to increase as [the industry’s] capacity is growing, with most of the users being chlor-alkali plants (CAPs),” he said. (MS)