JAKARTA - Trade Minister Budi Santoso said that the current increase in plastic prices was triggered by geopolitical tensions in the Middle East region.
To overcome this, he continued, the government has been looking for alternative sources of plastic raw materials from other countries.
Budi explained that Indonesia is now relying on new supplies from several countries, namely Africa, India, and the United States.
In addition, he said that the import process from the three countries had been running, although it still took time until the goods arrived in the country.
"We are looking for alternatives from India, America and Africa. From the three countries, the process has been completed, but it takes time, so now it is still in process with the existing stock," he told the media, Monday, April 13.
According to Budi, the government has communicated with manufacturers and ensured the availability of supplies.
However, he said the process of switching import sources and global conflict conditions caused distribution, including shipments, to be slower than usual.
"So in principle we are looking for solutions from other countries that supply raw materials and we are also coordinating with friends in the representative office to help find alternatives from other countries. That's right, so in the short term it's like that," he explained.
He added that a number of plastic manufacturers in countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and Singapore are currently facing force majeure conditions, thus exacerbating the global plastic raw material supply crisis.
However, Budi said that imports from alternative countries have begun to be processed and are expected to arrive soon, while waiting for the arrival of new supplies, domestic needs are still met from available stocks.
Budi hopes that additional supplies from these countries can immediately enter Indonesia, so that they can increase the availability of raw materials and help reduce the price of plastic gradually, even hopefully starting to happen in the near future.
"Yes, hopefully, hopefully," he said.
In addition to relying on these three countries, Budi said the government also continues to open opportunities for cooperation with other countries to ensure that the supply of plastic raw materials is maintained.
"This is indeed a global crisis, yes, our suppliers have been mostly from the Middle East, but alternatives from other countries have indeed been partially obtained. There were three countries, we are still looking for other countries that can supply plastic seed raw materials," he said.
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