SURABAYA - PT Mega Global Food Industry (Kokola) said that financing support from the Indonesian Export Financing Institution (LPEI) or Indonesia Eximbank has a crucial role in maintaining the continuity of raw material supply for biscuit and wafer producers.
Director of PT Mega Global Food Industry Richard Cahadi explained that the conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global supply chains, especially for plastic-based packaging materials that are highly dependent on petroleum, and this disruption has caused a rise in plastic prices due to the blockage of raw material supplies such as naphtha.
In this situation, Richard said his party focused on securing packaging supplies so that the production process was not hampered, and this was important because the biscuits that had been produced must be packaged immediately before being distributed to the market.
He also added that the scarcity of raw materials encouraged many suppliers to implement an advance payment system, which could potentially put pressure on the company's cash flow.
He conveyed that access to competitive financing is a crucial factor in export activities and in this case, the Export Special Assignment (PKE) program from LPEI provides financing support both at the initial and final stages of the export process, as well as guarantee facilities that increase the sense of security for business actors.
"In addition, the existence of a guarantee facility also gives us a sense of security with this support, the export team becomes more confident and does not hesitate to expand the market and penetrate the global export market," he said in a Ministry of Finance Media Briefing, Friday, April 17.
According to him, with the support of financing from LPEI helps maintain the company's liquidity so that it is still able to meet the needs of raw materials, and without the facility, the company risks experiencing obstacles in the production process.
"If we are not supported by LPEI, we will definitely have difficulty in cash flow to buy raw materials first. Plastic raw materials are petroleum, whose supply chain is indeed disrupted. Our main task as suppliers is to secure it first. And one of our advantages is supported by LPEI," he said.
In the midst of global pressure, Richard sees opportunities that business actors can take advantage of, namely supply disruptions from several countries opening up space for Indonesia to fill market gaps, especially in the food sector which has a stable demand.
In addition, he added, the tariff war between China and the United States also created new opportunities, because importers in America began to look for alternative suppliers, including from Indonesia.
"We have a great opportunity to supply with the existing supply chain security, of course. There are challenges, but we see this as a great opportunity," he said.
On the other hand, Richard emphasized that fluctuations in the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar are not always beneficial for exporters.
He said that although the weakening of the rupiah could increase export revenues in the short term, other countries also experienced similar conditions so that competitiveness must still be maintained through price adjustments, in addition, the weakening of the rupiah also increases the cost of imported raw materials.
According to him, exchange rate stability is an important factor and a too strong rupiah can reduce export competitiveness, while excessive weakening increases the cost burden of production.
In terms of performance, the company recorded export value of US$ 33.67 million in the period 2024-2025, with an increase of almost 28 percent and this increase has pushed the utilization rate of production capacity close to 80 percent which is considered high in the manufacturing sector.
Despite facing global supply chain challenges, Richard said the company remained optimistic that it could record export growth of over 20 percent this year.
According to Richard, the export opportunities for Indonesian food products are still very open as global needs increase and the source of supply shifts from other countries. "We remain confident that exports from Indonesia to the world will continue to grow," he said.
On the same occasion, the Managing Director of Business II Indonesia Eximbank Sulaeman, stated that his party took anticipatory steps against global geopolitical turmoil through stress testing on the export financing portfolio.
According to him, this effort aims to identify the sectors and companies that are most affected, especially those with payment exposure in the Middle East region.
"We do stress testing because we are an export financing institution," he said.
In addition, LPEI also monitors the impact of global supply chain disruptions that have the potential to affect the performance of debtors and the weakening of the rupiah exchange rate as a concern because it can have a direct impact on the financial condition of companies in the financing portfolio.
In facing this situation, Sulaeman emphasized that his party had prepared various mitigation steps to measure the impact of global turmoil on the overall portfolio.
He added that one of his strategies is to ensure the right selection of financing products with clear underlying transactions, ranging from pre-export financing to sales-based post-export.
Sulaeman explained that Indonesia Eximbank's main mandate is to encourage the increase in national exports and in its implementation, there are two financing schemes, namely the Special Export Assignment (PKE) and general assignment which are commercial in nature.
"Currently, the main focus is directed at the PKE scheme," he said.
Through this scheme, Indonesia Eximbank has carried out a number of strategic projects, including the development of the Mandalika area.
Sulaeman explained that every financing in the PKE scheme has a significant multiplier effect, where every Rp1 that is disbursed can generate a development impact up to three times.
Overall, the value of PKE financing currently reaches IDR 13.7 trillion which is spread across six programs and seven projects.
In order to support implementation, Indonesia Eximbank also prepared a special operational team, including representatives in various regions to strengthen the implementation of the program.
Sulaeman said that Kokola was one of the beneficiaries of the PKE Trade Finance program.
He added that this program aims to encourage the competitiveness of national industries and MSMEs in the global market while providing economic development impacts.
"In this case, PT Mega Global Food Industry is one of the business actors who receive the benefits of PKE Trade Finance," he said.
According to Sulaeman, LPEI supports export activities through pre-shipment and post-shipment financing, so that exporters can maintain cash flow and obtain working capital for production.
"Until 2025, exporters have utilized the PKE Trade Finance facility with a total limit of IDR 3.35 trillion. Meanwhile, the realization of distribution throughout 2025 was recorded at IDR 7.68 trillion," he said.
He added that the processed food sector was the largest contributor to the program's portfolio, with a share of 39 percent or covering 31 debtors.
Sulaeman said that overall, this program has reached 18 industrial sectors, including rubber, coffee, furniture, footwear, textiles, jewelry and gems, tea and spices, wood products, handicrafts, electronic products, chemical products, automotive components, leather products, electrical machinery and equipment, iron and steel, agricultural products, and paper products.
"In addition to providing financial support for business actors, PKE Trade Finance also plays a role in encouraging the creation of development impact. Throughout 2025, the distribution of PKE Trade Finance has contributed to the creation and/or saving of foreign exchange of IDR 21.12 trillion," he said.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
