Demand growth for plastic to weaken
Linda Yulisman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/13/2012 11:12 AM
Domestic plastic producers anticipate a slower demand growth of 7.75 percent this year to 3.48 million after growing 22.47 percent last year as the country starts to feel the heat from the global crisis.
“This growth will be still driven by consumption of food and beverages and vehicles,” Indonesian Ofelin, Aromatic and Plastic Industry Association (INAplas) secretary -general Fajar A.D. Budiyono said on Wednesday. He added that around 50 percent of car parts and about 30 percent of motorcycle parts were now comprised of plastic.
The Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo) forecasts that annual auto sales will surge only 4.69 percent to 930,000 units this year due to the global economic downturn after recording an all-time high of 888,335 units last year.
The Indonesian Motorcycle Industry Association (AISI) estimates that this year’s sales growth will be equal to that of last year. The sales could reach 9 million units this year, a 10 percent rise from 8.2 million units estimated in the past year.
The Indonesian Food and Beverages Association (Gapmmi) also does not expect higher growth in the industry than last year. Total industry sales are estimated to increase 9.23 percent to around Rp 710 trillion this year.
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s imports of plastic raw materials will decline 2.62 percent to 1.19 million tons this year as several local producers have upgraded or increased the utilization rate of their production capacity, including top petrochemical firm Chandra Asri Petrochemical and PT Polytama Propindo (Polytama), Fajar said.
“We forecast that the plastic raw material industry can increase their utilization rate above 80 percent this year,” he said, adding that at present the plastic industry only used around 80 percent of its production capacity on average.
The local plastic industry still highly depends on imports as raw materials cannot be sufficiently produced at home. Indonesia imports propylene and polyethylene mostly from other ASEAN countries, the Middle East, the United States and European countries.
