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Jokowi opens factory to reduce reliance on imported fertilizer material
The Rp 1.2 trillion (US$76.3 million) plant owned by PT Kaltim Amonium Nitrat (KAN) can produce 75,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate a year.
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President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurates the Rp 1.2 trillion PT Kaltim Ammonium Nitrate plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan, on Feb. 29, 2024. (Humas/BPMI Setpres)
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resident Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has inaugurated a new ammonium nitrate plant in Bontang, East Kalimantan, that will bolster food security by reducing Indonesia’s reliance on imports for fertilizer materials.
The Rp 1.2 trillion (US$76.3 million) plant owned by PT Kaltim Amonium Nitrat (KAN) can produce 75,000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate a year.
“We hope that, with the completion of this ammonium nitrate plant, our […] productivity in the food sector will become more independent and self-reliant,” said President Jokowi in his remarks during the facility’s inauguration on Thursday, as quoted by Kompas daily.
Domestic factories currently only produced roughly 300,000 tonnes of the key fertilizer ingredient per year, State-owned Enterprises Minister Erick Thohir said at the same ceremony, so even with the additional production capacity, the country will remain dependent on imports to meet nationwide consumption estimated to rise to 580,000 tonnes this year.
Read also: Subsidized fertilizer won't fix Indonesia's agriculture: Experts
The president further emphasized the importance of food self-sufficiency as the world grapples with what he called “a growing food crisis”.
He mentioned the increasing difficulty of importing staples like rice and wheat, which were previously easily obtained from 22 countries but now were under export restrictions.
