Supply Continues To Be Thin, Revision Of Industry Salt Import Ban Rules Will Be Issued Soon

Salt (photo: intermediate)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) ensures that the process of revising the restrictions and ban on salt imports has been completed and will soon be established. This policy is urgently needed by industry players who are currently having difficulty getting raw materials.

The policy to prohibit salt imports was originally stated in Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 126 of 2022 concerning the Acceleration of National Trade Development which limits the importation activities of salt products, including for the various food, pharmaceutical, and chlor alkali plant (CAP) industries.

Special Staff to the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Doni Ismanto Darwin said the government would support and ensure the availability of industrial salt raw materials, especially for various foods.

"One of the concrete steps that have been taken is through the revision of Presidential Regulation Number 126 of 2022. The harmonization process for the revision of the Presidential Regulation has been completed and is currently waiting for a determination," said Doni in his official statement, Wednesday, March 26.

Doni admitted that the government continues to strive to ensure the availability of national salt stocks for raw materials for the food variety industry.

Based on data owned by the KKP, the total national salt stock has reached 764,932 tons to date, consisting of 293,778 tons at PT Garam and 471,154 tons from people's salt.

"The stock has been used by various salt processing industries that have their own processing facilities," he said.

He explained, in the revision of Presidential Decree No. 126 of 2022, it will aim to strengthen the guarantee of the availability of salt in the various food industries.

Several points include enabling salt importers to take advantage of the remaining 2024 imported stock, which amounts to more than 47,000 tons.

Then, enforce certain conditions that allow the fulfillment of salt needs for the various food and pharmaceutical industries through imports until the end of 2025.

"This can be done if the results of data verification and validation show a domestic supply shortage," said Doni.

With these steps, the government is said to be ensuring that the national salt stock, both from people's farmers, PT Garam and the remaining imported stock in 2024, can still meet the needs of the food variety industry until May this year.

In addition, said Doni, when entering the people's salt harvest season starting in June, the national salt supply will be more stable.

"The government will continue to monitor the availability of salt and ensure that the revision of Presidential Regulation 126/2022 is immediately determined to ensure the smooth supply of raw materials for the various food industries in Indonesia," he concluded.

Previously, the Association of Indonesian Food and Beverage Producers (Gapmmi) reported that several food various industry companies experienced a crisis in the scarcity of industrial salt. This condition has occurred since the ban on salt imports took effect in early 2025.

General Chairperson of Gapmmi Adhi S. Lukman said, until now, the available stock of salt in the various food industries is only sufficient for production needs until March 2025.

"We want to support economic growth and prevent production from stopping due to a shortage of industrial salt raw materials," said Adhi in a written statement, quoted on Wednesday, March 26.