At the inauguration of the SRI factory in Cilegon, Banten province, on Thursday (Nov 29), Minister Airlangga explained that the construction of the plant with a production capacity of 120,000 tons per year would increase the added value of butadiene and styrene monomers.
These two materials have been produced in the country, and the domestic production strengthens the structure of the national petrochemical industry from upstream to downstream, he said.
"We appreciate the establishment of PT Synthetic Rubber Indonesia factory because it indicates that Indonesia is attractive to investors," Airlangga said.
He explained that the establishment of synthetic rubber industry is needed along with the progress of the national economy. Synthetic rubber is widely used to produce tires, conveyor belts, rubber components, footwear and electrical cable wrappers.
At present there is only one synthetic rubber producer in Indonesia with a production capacity of 75,000 tons per year. Meanwhile,domestic demand for synthetic rubber in 2017 was 230 thousand tons. So far, the country has imported this material to meet the demand.
On the occasion, President Director of SRI, Brad Karas, said SRI was the first Indonesian factory to use Michelin`s environmentally friendly technology.
SRI manufactures two types of synthetic rubber, namely Sollution Styrene Butadiene Rubber (SSBR) and Neodymium catalyst - Butadiene Rubber (NdBR) used as materials in the production of environmentally friendly tires.
Established on June 17, 2013, SRI is a joint venture company between Michelin and PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk which hold 55 percent and 45 percent of the company`s shares respectively. The investment in the joint venture company reached US$435 million. SRI received tax holiday incentives from the Indonesian government.
SRI started its production in August 2018. Since then, it has exported its products with a value of US$250 million. This is in line with the government`s strategy to increase state revenues by strengthening the domestic manufacturing sector.
Data from the Ministry of Industry shows that Indonesia`s export of manufactured goods continues to increase every year.
In the third quarter of 2018, the export value of manufactured goods amounted to US$97.52 billion, an increase of 5.71 percent from US$92.25 billion recorded in the same period in 2017.
Reporting by Ridwan Chaidir, Libertina W Ambari
Editing by Suharto
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
