Airlangga: The Petrokimia Factory Hilir Lotte Chemicals Becomes A Realized Investment Form

JAKARTA - The economic cooperation between Indonesia and the Republic of Korea has again experienced post-pandemic strengthening with a total value of bilateral trade reaching 20.8 billion US dollars in 2023. As the 7th largest investor in Indonesia in 2023, the total FDI of the Republic of Korea is worth around 2.5 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 200 million US dollars from the previous year.

One of the major investments that has been realized is the construction of a petrochemical factory by Lotte Chemical. Investment realization of PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia, namely in the construction of a downstream petrochemical complex or LOTTE Chemical Indonesia New Ethylene Project (LINE Project), in the form of naphtha crackers worth tens of trillions of rupiah located in Cilegon City, Banten.

"The construction of a downstream petrochemical factory by PT Lotte Chemical is a form of investment that has been realized in real terms, of course, I would like to say that I really appreciate this investment," said Coordinating Minister for the Economy Airlangga Hartarto in his statement, quoted Tuesday, May 21.

Through this opportunity, Airlangga appreciated the realization of investment and the construction of the downstream petrochemical factory complex carried out by Lotte Chemical.

According to Airlangga, the investment will absorb up to 15,000 workers during the construction period and 1,300 people during commercial operations.

As for the visit of the President of the Republic of Indonesia Joko Widodo to the factory area in September 2023, development progress has reached 73 percent. The development project is targeted to be completed and can start operating by 2025.

Airlangga said the factory will have a total production capacity of 3.1 million tons per year, where the production target for 2025 will produce 1 million tons of ethylene, 520,000 tons of propylene, and 250,000 tons of polypropylene per year.

Currently, Indonesia is still importing significant chemical products (ethylene, propylene, and polypropylene). The capacity of the domestic industry for these products currently only reaches 7.1 million tons per year, so efforts are still needed to increase production capacity to meet domestic needs.

Therefore, Airlangga hopes that the PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia factory construction project can subtitute imports so that they can become a stimulus for the local downstream petrochemical industry and support the creation of new jobs.

"With the investment in the construction of the PT Lotte Chemical factory, we hope to be a stimulus for the domestic petrochemical industry, besides that, it is also hoped that it can encourage new jobs for the community," he said.