The Ministry of Industry calculates the need for salt as raw material and auxiliary material for the industrial sector based on submission letters from industry associations and surveys with related ministries and institutions. In fact, the determination of import quotas is also carried out through cross-ministerial and institutional discussions under the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs as well as coordination with the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Indonesian National Police and holding limited meetings with the Vice President. For example, this is reflected in the recommendations from the Ministry of Industry and the Import Approval (PI) issued by the Ministry of Trade of 3.16 million tons in 2018. “So, below the demand figure of 3.7 million tons. Meanwhile, the realization of imports in 2018 was 2.84 million tons," said Febri, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Special Staff for the Minister of Industry for Supervision. This statement from the spokesman for the Ministry of Industry is also in response to what has been conveyed by the Head of the AGO Legal Information Center Ketut Sumedana some time ago. Currently, the AGO is conducting an investigation related to the alleged corruption case in the provision of industrial salt import facilities in 2016-2022.
Febri explained that the use of imported salt was verified by an independent agency at the time of verification for the next year's needs. In addition, the company submits a report to the Ministry of Industry every quarter. The actual import realization has always been smaller than the issued PI, because even the industrial players will not import if it is not needed. The PI is a plan from industry players. In response to the statement of the former Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti regarding the recommendation to import salt from the KKP of a maximum of 1.82 million tons, only through three unloading ports, namely Ciwandan, Tanjung Perak, and Belawan, as well as the time of entry. also limited to the period January-April 2018, the Ministry of Industry views that this will have an impact on the sustainability of industries that require salt as raw and auxiliary materials. The Ministry of Industry supports the law enforcement process related to the import of industrial salt which is currently being carried out by the AGO. This is because some industrial companies require a guarantee of continuity of supply and their demand is large so that they require continuous imports every month, especially the alkaline chlorine industry (CAP). Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs. If there is a reallocation or additional quota, it will still be carried out based on the Rakortas and recommendations from the Ministry of Industry as a reference for the Ministry of Trade in issuing PIs. This is so that these changes do not exceed the quota set in the Coordination Meeting.
