National Aluminum Needs Still Depend On Imports, Inalum Disburses This Evidence

BOGOR - PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum) admits that the national aluminum demand still relies heavily on imported supplies which reach more than 50 percent from 2018 to 2024.

This was conveyed by Inalum Business Development Director Arif Haendra in the Media Gathering of the Industrial Journalists Forum (Forwin) in Sentul, Bogor, West Java, Friday, November 14.

"From 2018 to 2024, the national aluminum demand is still very dependent on imported supplies which reach 54 percent, while Inalum's contribution is only at the level of 46 percent," he said.

According to Arif, this dependence is not ideal, especially because aluminum is a strategic raw material for various industrial sectors of the future.

Therefore, downstreaming of bauxite minerals is no longer just an industrial program, but is a strategic step to maintain the resilience of national raw materials.

"With the projected huge increase in consumption, Indonesia needs to accelerate the construction of the Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) facility and new aluminum smelters," he said.

He explained that the aluminum industry runs through a highly integrated production chain.

To produce 1 ton of aluminum, it takes about 6 tonnes of bauxite to be processed into 2 tonnes of alumina, before going through an electrolysis process in the smelter.

This stage makes upstream and downstream investments have to run in parallel and planned.

"This is why Inalum places the development of SGAR stages 1 and 2, as well as the construction of new smelters and potline expansion as the company's priority agenda," he said.

In the next five years, Inalum targets to increase its aluminum production capacity to 900,000 tons per year.

At the same time, alumina production is targeted to reach two million tons by 2029.

Ekspansi itu mencakup pembangunan Potline-4 dengan kapasitas awal 100.000 ton (dengan opsi perluasan hingga 200.000 ton) serta revamping fasilitas produksi lama (PL1 & PL3) yang akan menambah kapasitas sekitar 45.000 ton.

"Ekspansi ini bukan sekadar peningkatan volume, tetapi membangun fondasi bagi industrial estate aluminium terintegrasi, kompetitif dan berkelanjutan. Ini akan memperkuat kemampuan Indonesia untuk memasok kebutuhan nasional sekaligus menjadi pemain penting di pasar aluminium global," jelas dia.

The expansion includes the construction of Potline-4 with an initial capacity of 100,000 tons (with an expansion option of up to 200,000 tons) and the revamping of old production facilities (PL1 & PL3) which will increase the capacity of around 45,000 tons.

"This expansion is not just an increase in volume, but builds a foundation for an integrated, competitive and sustainable aluminum estate industry. This will strengthen Indonesia's ability to supply national needs as well as become an important player in the global aluminum market," he explained.