Bye Steel Import! Domestic Producers Starting To Dominate The Domestic Market

Steel product illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (ILMATE) Ministry of Industry, Taufiek Bawazier, said that the 2020 period is a momentum for the revival of the national steel industry. This is because Indonesia has succeeded in reducing steel imports by 34 percent compared to previous years.

"We succeeded in reducing imports by 34 percent, from previously 2017 to 2019, imported products were often flooded. This is the fruit of the right policy synergy by regulating supply and demand in a structured manner and in accordance with the national industrial capacity, ”he said in an official statement, Thursday, March 4.

Taufiek said, steel imports for the types of slabs, billets, and blooms in 2020 amounted to 3.46 million tons, lower than the previous year which reached 4.66 million tons.

The decline in imports also occurred in the type of Hot Rolled Coil per Plate (HRC / P) which in 2020 became 1.18 million tons from 1.64 million tons in the previous year.

Meanwhile, imports for the type of Cold Rolled Coil per Sheet (CRC / S) fell to 591,638 tons in 2020 compared to 2019 which amounted to 918,025 tons.

Meanwhile, imported armored steel also fell to 1.01 million tons in 2020 from 1.27 million tons in the previous year.

"The next strategic step that we have designed is to attract investment in this sector through the certainty of increasing the national demand by 5 percent per year with the priority needs of the domestic industry," he said.

In addition, the production utilization of national steel business actors in 2020 also increased to 88.38 percent from 2019 which amounted to 67.86 percent.

According to Taufiek, almost all countries experienced a decline in steel production in the 2020 pandemic.

However, this is not the case in several countries, such as China, where production has actually increased by 5.2 percent. Next, steel production in Turkey also increased by 6 percent, Iran increased by 13 percent, and Indonesia increased by 30.25 percent compared to 2019.

"The steel industry sector is an economic indicator. If the steel industry grows, of course our economy can be built strong. Then the important thing is that we have to optimize domestic products, "concluded Taufiek.