H

eavy equipment firm Trakindo Utama is saving big money because it does not have to store its imported equipment in Singapore anymore, but can directly send it to bonded logistics centers (PLBs) in Indonesia.

“Previously, we parked our equipment in Singapore. With PLBs, we’ve moved in stages to Jakarta and Kalimantan. It saves us money on rent and manpower costs,” Trakindo Utama director Heru Susanto said during a public discussion at the Cikarang Dry Port in West Java on Friday.

More companies are slated to make use of the government’s PLB concept. A PLB can store imported and exported goods exempted from duties for up to three years. In the past, firms parked imported goods in neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia to avoid duties at Indonesian ports.

The PLBs, introduced by the government in March as part of its economic stimulus packages, are also expected to serve as alternatives to ports for storing shipped goods.

Goods going to warehouses only wait for 1.02 days to get out of port. Other goods hoarded in ports dwell for 3.3 to 6 days until they can be cleared, data from the Finance Ministry’s customs and excise directorate general shows.

Shipments of oil, gas, mining equipment, textile-related materials and chemicals, food, cosmetics and automotive products can be stored at PLBs. There are presently 24 PLBs spread across the country, mostly in Java and Kalimantan.

The government plans to allow the warehouses to store more types of commodities, including agricultural products. It hopes to see 50 PLBs develop near major ports across the archipelago next year to turn Indonesia into a regional logistics hub.

Indonesian Textile Industry Association (API) chairman Ade Sudrajat expects production costs to go down in the near future as PLBs expand. He hopes this will encourage local textile investors who opened businesses in Vietnam to return to Indonesia, or start investing in Indonesia.

Textile giant Sri Rejeki Isman (Sritex) now takes cotton from a PLB in Cikarang instead of from foreign ports. In so doing, the company has cut down on costs. It hopes a PLB will soon open in Central Java, where the firm operates.

Small and medium-sized garment businesses in Bandung, West Java, will also buy imported fabrics stored in a PLB in Batujajar instead of going to China to pre-book fabrics.

The Finance Ministry’s customs and excise director general Heru Pambudi said the concept had saved on pick-up costs that are accrued by taking goods from warehouses in Singapore and Malaysia to Indonesia.

“One PLB can save Rp 300.6 billion [US$22.9 million] in transporting 14 rigs from Singapore to Balikpapan,” he added.