theIndonesian – Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said domestic industrial gas producers have an important role in encouraging the development of the processing or manufacturing sector.
According to him, this is because as many as 189 industrial gas producers who are members of the Indonesian Industrial Gas Association (AGII) have been actively playing their role since 1972, so that they are able to support the energy needs of national manufacturing so that they can continue to produce, and contribute to the country’s foreign exchange.
He explained in a statement in Jakarta on Wednesday that currently the cumulative production capacity produced by national gas producers reaches 2.5 million tons per year, so that the production quantity is able to meet the needs of industrial gas which is only 1.4 million tons per year.
The demand includes 587 thousand tons of oxygen, and 673 thousand tons of nitrogen gas used to supply hospitals, workshops, small industries, aquaculture, steel production, stainless steel, inert gas, and oil drilling.
“There is also a need for carbon dioxide gas of 84 thousand tons per year which is used as a coolant, small industry, hospitals, carbonation, oil and gas drilling, and noble gas. Then, the need for other gases amounted to 106 thousand tons per year. In general, the existing production capacity can meet domestic needs,” he said.
In addition, according to him, along with the growth of downstream activities of mineral-based industries in the form of metals and non-metals, as well as the opening of new industrial areas, the need for industrial gas will increase.
Therefore, the institution he leads seeks to maintain the stability of domestic industrial gas producers by issuing regulations that support the ecosystem of the sector, so that it can boost the manufacturing industry.
“We are trying to issue measurable policies to support the growth of the industrial-gas sector, not only for the supply of industrial gas, but also for the development of new energy such as hydrogen and green ammonia,” he said.
Previously, the Minister of Industry said that based on UNStats data, Indonesia’s Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) value in 2021 amounted to 228 billion US dollars. In that period, Indonesia’s MVA ranking was above several countries, such as Canada, Turkey, Ireland, Brazil, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, and Poland.
He said that in the period 2014-2022, the value of Indonesia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) had an average growth of 3.44 percent, while the average world growth was 2.35 percent.
In the same period, the average contribution of manufacturing GDP to Indonesia’s total GDP was 19.9 percent. This figure also puts Indonesia higher than the average contribution of the world’s manufacturing GDP which only amounted to 16.26 percent.
The Indonesian
