TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Director General of Chemical, Pharmaceutical, and Textile Industries of the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) Reni Yanita disclosed why Indonesia keeps importing salt despite having expansive seas. 

Reni said local farmers and cooperatives are only able to supply 2.5 million tons of salt. Meanwhile, the domestic salt demand reaches 4.9 million tons. "Meaning, there’s a shortage of nearly 2.4 million tons of salt,” she told reporters on Monday, adding that the issue cannot be simplified to having expansive bodies of water. 

Thus, salt imports are still necessary to cover the lack of domestic salt supply, although the amount is adjustable if new investments are incoming. Food diversification also affects the demand for salt, she said. 

Salt imports are also mainly aimed at locally scarce salt specifications, Reni said, giving an example of the chlor alkali plant (CAP) industry. The salt, which contains over 97 percent sodium chloride, is not widely produced by Indonesian farmers and cooperatives.

Through Presidential Regulation Number 126 of 2022 concerning the national salt industry development, the government will ban salt imports for food and pharmaceutical needs, excluding the CAP industry. 

However, Reni said that there is a possibility that the import ban for pharmaceutical needs will be relaxed. "Although the industry grows, the salt material for pharmaceutical demand is still lacking in quantity," she said.

Reni admitted that the pharmaceutical industry is currently not ready to stop imports and replace them with domestic salt due to the extensive process required to switch the sources of raw materials. The industry must obtain the Good Manufacturing Practice (CPOB) certificate from the Food and Drug Supervisory Agency (BPOM). According to her, the process can take up to two years.

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