The Covid-19 pandemic has stagnated a large part of the domestic manufacturing sector. However, the national paper industry is still performing like normal conditions. The Indonesian Pulp and Paper Association (APKI) projects that the total volume of paper exports throughout 2020 will increase by around 24.3 percent annually to 6.75 million tons. Meanwhile, the volume of pulp exports is forecast to increase by 19.87 percent to 5.79 million tons. "Despite fluctuations in the paper and pulp trade balance, both are still in surplus both in volume and value. It is expected that next year there will be an increase, at least pulp and paper exports will increase by 5 percent," APKI Executive Director Liana Bratasida told Bisnis, Monday (21 / 12/2020).
Throughout 2020, the national net pulp exports reached 1.32 million tons, while the net paper exports managed to touch the level of 5.94 million tons. However, this growth in export volume performance was followed by a decrease in the volume of recycled paper imports (KDU). Liana assessed that one of the factors that decreased KDU's import volume was the tightening of KDU's import policy which required evidence of a registered exporter (BET). However, some embassies in the countries of import have not been able to validate BET because the standard procedure for ratification of BET has not been completed. Therefore, Liana suggested that the government can improve the waste transportation system in the country. This step can make the availability of KDU in the country happen. "So that it can encourage people to sort waste from its source. The government is also expected to build recycling centers in several areas, so that the availability of paper scraps [domestically] can increase," he said.
Liana is optimistic that the growth rate of the paper industry will return to normal in 2021. The decline is that the production volume of the pulp industry will increase by 1.85 percent to 11 million tons, while the volume of paper production will increase by 5 percent to 14.28 million tons. "The increase [in production volume] occurred because several entrepreneurs planned to make new investments, such as expanding [factories], upgrading [machines], debottlenecking, and factory restructuring," he said. Previously, Liana had prepared at least two strategies in terms of production and raw materials in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic. In terms of raw materials, Liana stated that she would try to facilitate the availability of raw materials in the country in three ways. One of them, APKI will ask for relaxation of the rules and regulations for the availability of recycled paper.
Meanwhile, imported paper scrap supports about 50% of the raw material needs for paper manufacturing. As is well known, the government has instructed that the impurity of imported paper scrap should be at the 2% level. However, the lack of written rules regarding these instructions discouraged surveying agencies from inspecting imported scrap paper containers.
