JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry continues to spur the productivity and competitiveness of the ceramic industry in the country. This is because this sector has great potential and opportunities to be developed domestically in line with the availability of natural resources which are used as raw materials, which are spread across a number of regions.
"In terms of capacity and capability, our ceramic industry has been able to meet national needs. However, we also encourage the use of technology to create innovative and competitive products,” said Adie Rochmanto Pandiangan, Director of the Cement, Ceramics and Non-Metallic Mineral Processing Industry in Jakarta, Sunday (6/12).
Adie said, a number of strategic policies that have been implemented by the government in order to boost the competitiveness of the national ceramic industry against the threat of imported products, among others, are the implementation of safeguards or the imposition of Safeguards (BMTP) on imports of ceramic tile products. In addition, the enactment of natural gas prices for the industrial sector is USD 6 per MMBTU.
Currently, the utilization of national production from the ceramic industry sector is starting to increase to 65% in November 2020. "It is hoped that it will continue to increase until the end of 2020 by 70% from previous utilization was only 45%-50% due to the Covid-19 pandemic," explained Adie.
The Association of Indonesian Ceramics (Asaki) said that the recovery of the ceramic industry in the country can be seen from the results of its export performance. During January-September 2020, shipments of national ceramic products reached USD 49.8 million, an increase of 24%, and by volume exceeded the 12.8 million m2 figure or increased 29%. (LM)