Charcoal from Hasem Village, Muncang Kopong Village, Cikulur District, Lebak Regency, has successfully penetrated the export market to the Middle East and Europe. Charcoal craftsman Nurhidayah said that she has been engaged in the charcoal business since she was young. Initially, her charcoal products were only marketed in the Banten region. Nurhidayah started this charcoal business when she was young or a bachelor, which used to only be sold in the Banten region, and since 2017, he has started opening export channels. Now his charcoal production is able to meet the needs of the Middle East market. This is to be sent to the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, such as to Damam, Turkey, and Jebel Ali," she continued.
According to him, the price of one kilo of charcoal is sold for 350 USD. He also admitted that in one month she is able to export 20 tons of charcoal to her regular customers in the Middle East, even if there is another request in one month it can be sent up to two times. He admitted that in one export, his gross income can earn around IDR 100 million to IDR 150 million, with a net profit of around IDR 20 million, even though his business is still small-scale. "In terms of turnover, it's quite good, if we export it can be even more profitable because exports are paid in dollars, we have quite high profits, sometimes in one export we can get more than IDR 20 million in profit, and for a month's turnover it is IDR 100 million to IDR 150 million because it is still small-scale," he explained. However, behind his success, he also faces challenges in terms of raw material supply. The rainy season is the main obstacle because logging trucks have difficulty reaching the forest where the materials are taken. "For now, the difficulty is with raw materials, because now it's the rainy season so no raw materials come in, because trucks can't enter the forest because of the rain so it's a bit difficult, except in the dry season, the raw materials will be abundant and come here," he concluded.
