Indonesian Paper Industry Lags behind Singapore
Translator
Editor
Kamis, 17 April 2014 13:00 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Despite large supplies of raw materials, Indonesia's paper industry still lags behind Singapore's. President of the Indonesian Master Printer Association (PPGI), Jimmy Juneanto said the export value of Indonesian printed goods is currently at US$226 million, or one-sixth of Singapore’s export value, which is US$1.5 billion.
"Singapore has no paper mills, but they can export US$1.5 billion-worth paper products," Jimmy said yesterday.
The Indonesia’s paper productivity is 13.6 million tons per annum, of which 60 percent is used to meet domestic demands and 40 percent is exported in the form of semi-finished goods (SFG) or paper rolls.
"If we make the paper rolls into printed goods, we can add the export value by 30-60 percent," Jimmy said.
The average export price of the paper roll is currently US$1,000 per ton. If downstream policy is implemented in the printing industry with 30-40 percent added value, it would boost the export value to US$2.1 billion.
BERNADETTE CHRISTINA MUNTHE