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Indonesian Government plans to control naphtha exports to safeguard petrochemical industry

Indonesian Government plans to control naphtha exports to safeguard petrochemical industry

Write: Rossa [2011-05-20]
The Indonesian Government plans to tighten control over the country's naphtha exports as well as exports of condensate to protect the country's upstream petrochemical industry. Naphtha is used as feedstock for ethylene and propylene production, and condensate is used as feedstock to produce aromatic petrochemicals like benzene and paraxylene.

Indonesia's largest petrochemical maker Chandra Asri needs 1.5 mln tpa of naphtha. PT Pertamina and PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama in Tuban, produce naphtha in Indonesia. Chandra Asri relies mainly on imports for its naphtha requirements. However, Pertamina is bound by contract to export most of its production to Chevron.

In a bid to guarantee better supply in the country, the industry ministry will soon propose the ruling of Domestic Market Obligation (DMO) on producers of light and heavy naphtha.