RI to produce more ceramic tiles

RI to produce more ceramic tiles

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's production of ceramic floor and wall
tiles is projected to increase to 200,000 million square meters
this year from 170 million square meters in 1995, an official
said here yesterday.

Director General for Metal, Machinery and Chemical Industries
Effendi Sudarsono said at the opening of a four-day seminar on
ceramic floor and wall tile production technology that this
year's production increase would be supported by new factories.

He could not give the exact figure of last year's production
but said the country's annual production between 1992 and 1995
remained constant at around 170 million square meters.

Effendi said 98 percent of the country's production was sold
domestically. The two percent was exported bringing in foreign
exchange earnings of about US$13 million to $14 million annually.

The Association of Italian Manufacturers of Machinery and
Equipment for Ceramics seminar is to help domestic producers
improve the quality of their floor and wall tiles to meet the
demand of the booming property businesses.

Chairman of the Indonesian Ceramic Industry Association,
Hendrata Atmoko said Indonesia was the second largest producer of
ceramic wall and floor tiles after China in Asia, and sixth in
the world.

He said there was an excessive supply in member countries of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). "We do not
export products to other ASEAN members because the market is too
competitive and they are imposing high import tariffs on such
products."

He explained that the other ASEAN members imposed import
tariffs of between 20 percent and 30 percent on imported ceramic
tiles, compared to the 10 percent imposed by Indonesia.

Hendrata said Indonesia needed to become more competitive in
its ceramic industry to prepare for the ASEAN Free Trade
Agreement (AFTA) in 2003.

He said Indonesia was projected to increase its ceramic tile
exports to about 10 percent of total production this year to
Middle Eastern countries, Australia, the United States and other
Pacific countries.

Hedrata -- who is also sales director of PT Mulia Industrindo,
a publicly listed ceramic tile producer, said Indonesia imported
between 300,000 to 400,000 superior quality ceramic tiles from
Italy and Spain a year. (10)