Duty on methanol lowered

JAKARTA (JP): The government has lowered the import duty on methanol from 10 percent to five percent. Methanol is used for the production of glue for plywood, from 10 percent to five percent.

Decree No. 542/KMK.01/1994 of the Minister of Finance states the reduction of the tariff on methanol was effected last Thursday.

The import duty reduction is aimed mainly at helping maintain the competitiveness of Indonesia's plywood exports, while the price of methanol on the world market has increased to more than US$400 per ton from merely $120 in January, a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance said last Friday.

Indonesia needs 450,000 tons of methanol per annum but its only manufacturer, owned by the state oil company Pertamina, is capable of producing only 240,000 tons a year.

PT Kaltim Methanol Industri, an affiliate of the Humpuss Group, controlled by businessman Hutomo (Tommy) Mandala Putra, will set up a US$330 million methanol plant in East Kalimantan with a production capacity of 660,000 tons a year. (riz)