Trade Minister Zulhas Releases Steel Exports In Purwakarta, Value 808,262 US Dollars

Minister of Trade Zulkifli Hasan. (Photo: Special)

JAKARTA - The Minister of Trade (Mendag) Zulkifli Hasan (Zulhas) released export commodities in the form of armored steel products with the trademarks Nexalume, Nexium, and Nexcolor.

The export release was carried out at the Lestari Metal Tata Factory, Purwakarta, West Java, Friday, June 21.

In his remarks, Zulhas said that the release of steel exports to Australia, Canada and Puerto Rico worth 808,262 US dollars by PT Tata Metal Lestari was a real collaboration between the government and business actors to encourage an increase in the performance of Indonesia's non-oil and gas exports, including the increase in Indonesia's exports of steel products to the global market.

Zulhas admitted that he was happy with the export of steel products carried out by PT Tata Metal Lestari.

This is because this armored steel producer is one of the companies that has contributed and made Indonesia's trade balance for 48 consecutive months experiencing a surplus.

"In 2022, our surplus is 54.5 billion US dollars, in 2023 our surplus had dropped to 36 billion US dollars more, until May 2024 almost 14 billion US dollars," Zulhas told reporters, Friday, June 21.

In addition, Zulhas also admitted that he was happy because the purpose of exporting this steel product was to Australia and Canada.

Which he said, Indonesia itself apparently imports a lot from the country and causes a trade deficit.

For this reason, with the export of this color-plated steel commodity, Zulhas hopes that it can reduce the trade deficit.

He also appreciated PT Tata Metal Lestari for its business performance, in addition to serving the domestic market, as well as serving the export market whose average growth is above 10 percent per year.

He added that the Ministry of Trade continues to encourage the opening of access to the Indonesian product market to trading partner countries, one of which is Australia and Canada, which are export destination countries of PT Tata Metal Lestari.

With Australia, Indonesia already has the Indonesia-Australia CEPA trade agreement, while Indonesia-Canada CEPA is currently in the negotiation stage with Canada. The release of steel exports to Canada and Australia is the right momentum in response to Canada and Australia's growing steel demand, respectively by 16.94 percent and 14.72 percent in the last 5 years.

For this reason, the Minister of Trade appreciated PT Tata Metal Lestari, who continues to be active in taking advantage of export market opportunities and diversifying the export market.

This is done by prioritizing the principles of a green and sustainable industry in order to increase the competitiveness of steel products in the global market.

"Because indeed, if we want to become a developed country, we must control the world market. Moreover, this is steel, we are proud of MSMEs, especially since this is a high-tech industry. Hopefully, this will provide signs that our ideals to become a developed country by 2045 can be achieved," said the Trade Minister.

Meanwhile, PT Tata Metal Lestari's Vice President Operations, Stephanus Koeswandi explained, based on data from The Indonesian Iron and Steel Industry Association (IISIA), the volume of HS 72 and HS 73 steel imports in 2018-2022 was seen up and down due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Prior to the pandemic, HS 72 and 73 steel imports continued to increase to reach 19 million tons in 2019. New imports fell in 2020 to 14.1 million tons due to a significant decline in market demand, both domestically and globally.

However, in 2021 and 2022, imports will increase again to 15.6 and 16.8 million tons.

This step was taken after previously studying patterns such as supply chain disruptions, fluctuating demand, price and market instabilities (volatile), government support and protection of domestic industry, innovation and adaptation, and the latter is a long-term impact where industrial restructuring focuses on sustainability and energy efficiency as part of the post-pandemic steel industry strategy from Tata Metal Lestari, "said Stephanus.

This maneuver has finally begun to be proven. The condition of exports importing steel products during the first quarter of 2023 shows quite interesting dynamics.

From 2018 to 2022, total export volume looks always increasing.

Meanwhile, in the first quarter of 2023, the export volume of steel products with Code HS 72 and 73 increased by 8.2 percent or to 3.18 million tons compared to the same period in 2022.

Meanwhile, the import volume also increased by 7.7 percent in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the previous year, although in terms of value it decreased by 9 percent.

The increasingly significant contribution of steel product exports shows that the national steel industry has grown to become increasingly important for the national economy.

PT Tata Metal Lestari is increasingly convinced to move more towards the export market. For now, from our production of 85 percent of capacity, we dedicate 30 percent to exports. The contribution of export sales is 25 percent to 30 percent of the total revenue. This proves that the quality and prices we give to global markets are well received," concluded Stephanus.

With this good trajectory, PT Tata Metal Lestari again invested in a steel coloring machine launched last October at the Sadang Factory with an investment value of approximately IDR 1.5 trillion outside the land and buildings.

Not only that, the company he leads has now also applied new manufacturing technology that is oriented towards the efficiency of natural resources and low carbon emissions in line with the concept of sustainable industry with the Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) level which is already at the international standard level.