Jakarta. Local petrochemical businesses are urging the government to reimpose the 2023 Trade Ministry Regulation 36 on Import to save the domestic industry -- be it in the upstream or downstream sectors. 

The 2024 Trade Ministry Regulation No. 8, which provides import relaxations, is the third change that follows after the 2023 ministerial regulation. According to the Indonesian Olefin, Aromatic, and Plastic Industry Association (Inaplas) chairman Budi Susanto, the aforementioned 2023 ministerial regulation protects both producers of upstream and downstream goods. 

“We need to reimpose import restrictions with a better explanation,” Budi said. 

Budi also underlined the importance of commodity balance as an accurate measure of plastic raw material needs and supply in order to avoid losses in the upstream and downstream sectors.

"The downstream plastic or petrochemical industry is currently recording 50 percent utilization, while upstream is below 80 percent. If there are players who carry out factory maintenance, upstream utilization could be below 60 percent," Budi said. 

According to Budi, a conducive political situation and supportive economic policies are pivotal to boosting people's weakening purchasing power. He called for everyone to maintain political stability. As Indonesia witnesses a transition in power, Budi hopes the new government can boost purchasing power through its domestic processing policies, free school lunch distribution, food security -- all this will give a boost to the economy. 

"When the economy improves, so does the demand in the downstream sector. And this can cause the utilization to increase,” Budi said.