Gaslink Subholding Pertamina Gas Supports The Competitiveness Of Indonesian Rattan Crafts

Photo: Doc. PT Gagas Energi Indonesia

JAKARTA - PT Gagas Energi Indonesia (Gagas) as an affiliate of Pertamina Gas Sub Holding through Gaslink products helps the competitiveness of Indonesian rattan handicraft products to be more competitive in the global arena.

Since January 2022, Gagas has distributed compressed natural gas (CNG) to one of the rattan furniture manufacturers in Cirebon, namely PT Tanamas Industry Communitas with a distribution volume of 1,000 - 3,000 cubic meters per month.

The use of natural gas can save energy costs and is about 20 percent more competitive when compared to other fuels, thus encouraging efficiency in production costs.

PT Tanamas Industry Communitas produces rattan furniture crafts such as chairs, tables, shelves, stools and other furniture. Furthermore, their products are exported to several countries in Europe and America. This handicraft business has been operating since 1972 and is currently able to export around 20-30 containers of rattan furniture per month.

Citing data from the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, it is estimated that almost 85% of rattan raw materials worldwide are produced from Indonesia.

One of the problems often faced by rattan producers is the weak competitiveness of their products, when compared to competing countries. This lack of competitiveness is caused by several factors, such as difficulty in obtaining quality raw materials, undeveloped product design and high production costs.

Since the beginning, PT Tanamas Industry Communitas has targeted foreign markets. All aspects of the production process are highly considered, including the use of natural gas to form handicraft products into the expected model.

"Gagas is committed to supporting the efforts of rattan producers such as PT Tanamas Industry Communitas through the provision of efficient and clean energy so that domestic rattan producers can continue to develop and have competitiveness in the international market," said Gagas' Managing Director, Muhammad Hardiansyah, in his statement, Tuesday 7 June.

Sonny A Tanams as Factory Manager of PT Tanamas Industry Communitas said that the use of natural gas plays an important role in the rattan furniture production process.

"We use natural gas for burners during the process of making arches on rattan furniture. The more arch models that are made, the more natural gas is needed," explained Sonny.

Gagas as an affiliate of Subholding Gas continues to demonstrate its commitment to assist PT PGN Tbk in responding to the challenges of gas infrastructure needs in Indonesia by providing natural gas beyond the pipeline. As of April 2022, Gagas has served around 202 industrial and commercial customers that have not been reached by the gas pipeline network with a total distribution of 175,000 MMBTU per month on average.

"Gagas' commitment is to be able to develop and grow together with customers through the use of energy, both natural gas. This commitment is in line with the government's expectation regarding the active role of the business world to help Indonesia not only become a producer of rattan raw materials, but also a producer of finished products. the biggest rattan in the world," concluded Hardiansyah.