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Industries demand certainty on gas prices
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Then-industry minister Airlangga Hartarto (second right) receives an explanation about the AK 2000 machine at PT Schott Igar Glass’s factory in Cikarang, West Java, in April 2019. (Courtesy of/The Industry Ministry)
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epresentatives of gas-intensive industries have urged the government to ensure sustainable supplies of below-market gas prices for manufacturers.
Yustinus Gunawan, chairman of the Forum for Industries Using Natural Gas, said industry players expected the government to devise a strategy that would ensure certainty in the pricing of gas delivered to gas-intensive industries.
Specifically, they requested sufficient supplies of the lower-priced gas in accordance with Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Decree No. 134/2021 on users and prices of natural gas for industry.
According to industry representatives, the availability of the cheaper gas in eastern Java, for one, was “always lower” than stipulated in the regulation.
“That’s all. It’s a good starting point to simply ensure the sustainability of the exact US$6 per mmbtu gas price for gas-intensive industries,” Yustinus told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
He did not rule out a possible disruption of operations should supplies continue to be inconsistent, adding that that would also dampen foreign investors’ enthusiasm about the gas-intensive industries.
Manufacturers in seven industries, including fertilizer production, glassmaking and steelmaking, are supposed to receive natural gas at the fixed price of $6 per mmbtu from 2020 to 2024, in accordance with energy ministry Regulation No. 15/2022 on procedures to determine natural gas users and prices for industrial use, below the current market average of around $8 per mmbtu.
