EAST JAVA--OIL PRICES, POOR INFRASTRUCTURE BATTER BOTH

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SURABAYA 000080 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, INR/EAP, EB E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ID ECON PGOV SUBJECT: EAST JAVA--OIL PRICES, POOR INFRASTRUCTURE BATTER BOTH STATE-RUN AND PRIVATE FACTORIES SURABAYA 00000080 001.2 OF 002 This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. Summary: Top managers at two major Indonesian factories in Gresik, East Java, spoke to visiting Consulate staff about the challenges of running a large-scale factory in Indonesia. State-owned Petrokimia is a fertilizer company with a protected market and guaranteed prices. Privately-owned Kelola Mina Laut (KML) is one of the largest seafood processors in Indonesia with 75 percent of its exports bound for the U.S. Each management team described vastly different regulatory playing fields: one protected and the other intensely competitive. However, both suffer from the direct and indirect impacts of poor infrastructure and high oil prices. End Summary. State-Owned and Safe -------------- ¶2. (SBU) During a visit by Surabaya Pol-Econ Officer and Pol-Econ Assistant, managers at Petrokimia explained the business realities of operating a state-owned company in East Java. Petrokimia produces various types of chemical fertilizer and other by-products supporting the agricultural sector of 10 regencies in East Java province. It is one of only five such state-owned fertilizer companies in Indonesia. The Minister of Agriculture, with the governor's certification, regulates the distribution of this fertilizer. Both the price and distribution networks of fertilizer are tightly regulated. The managers referred to the strain that their operation was under due to rising fuel prices and poor infrastructure. However, they offered no strategies or plans to adjust operations as a result of the rising cost of finished fertilizer inputs. Competing and Winning -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The managers of Kelola Mina Laut (KML),a privately owned seafood processing facility, presented a more dynamic picture of business operations. KML is an integrated processing company that cleans, scales, washes, freezes and packages locally produced seafood in its Gresik factory. KML's owner, M. Nadjikh, is a successful Pribumi (native Indonesian) who has flourished in a field traditionally dominated by Sino-Indonesians. KML is Indonesia's top fish producer and exporter, and its third-largest shrimp producer. KML operates factories in Sulawesi and competes with both domestic and international seafood corporations. Processing of crab-meat is particularly labor intensive and high-cost. KML has been able to use its thousands of skilled crab and shrimp cleaners to provided value-added products to European and U.S. customers, (mainly restaurant suppliers) eager for high-end seafood. A Study in Contrasts -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Petrokimia and KML illustrate the differences between a domestically oriented state industry and an export-oriented private business. According to Petrokimia management, the company would try to redirect operations toward trade and export surplus fertilizer after domestic demand is met. However, given that Petrokimia can only produce one third of the 1.2 million tons used in East Java's agriculture every year, the likelihood of becoming an export player is extremely low. Petrokimia relies on imports of raw materials from a wide variety of countries and increasingly high shipping costs of these inputs still affect this subsidized industry. To meet domestic demand, Petrokimia must import low-cost fertilizer (especially potassium chloride) from China, other raw materials from Canada, the Middle East, and Russia, phosphorous from Morocco, Jordan, Egypt, and China, phosphoric acid from Tunisia and China, and aluminum hydroxide from Turkey. ¶5. (SBU) In contrast, while Indonesia's subsidized fertilizer industry relies on imports, KML is a seafood exporter powerhouse. KML exports 90% of its total production, more than 75% of which goes to the U.S. market. Other overseas markets are Canada, Europe, Russia, Japan, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa. The seafood comes from throughout Indonesian waters. Stringent international standards for seafood processing have forced KML to comply with various international certification requirements. This has meant that KML products can be sold in European and U.S. markets. Because the U.S. is such an important export SURABAYA 00000080 002.2 OF 002 destination, KML also complies with U.S. regulations outlined in CTPAT (Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism). U.S. Customs and the FDA have twice visited KML to inspect safety and security there. Common Challenges -- Infrastructure and Fuel Costs -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Fuel prices and inadequate infrastructure are problems for both companies, but they have a more direct impact on KML. Petrokimia's representatives told us that high fuel prices have increased the cost of production as well as the price of raw materials. To insulate itself from the weak power grid in East Java, PT. Petrokimia has its own power plant (gas turbine generator and steam turbine generator) with a total generating capacity of 50 MW. In addition to compensating for poor infrastructure with their own power plant, Petrokimia's government managers must keep the retail price of fertilizer constant and has nearly doubled the subsidy on fertilizer, from Rp. 7.6 trillion (USD 828 million) in 2007 to Rp. 13 trillion (USD 1.4 billion) in 2008. Petrokimia cannot increase their prices to consumers and therefore must try to cut costs through increased efficiency instead. By contrast, costs that cannot be cut in the factory by KML have to be borne by the customer. ¶7. (SBU) Higher crude oil prices have increased demand for alternative fuels like palm oil, which in turns increases demand for fertilizer at new palm oil plantations of Jatropha palms. According to Petrokimia management, this has put sudden added strain on fertilizer supplies available to local distribution networks. When asked if they were seeing a shift to cheap and readily available plant fertilizers in the form of compost-like green manure, Petrokimia told us that wealthier and more highly educated agricultural communities, such as those in Java, used green manure. In poorer and more remote areas, farmers still use synthetic fertilizers almost exclusively. ¶8. (SBU) Transportation infrastructure is a particular problem for KML. Their marketing director praised the government's crackdown on illegal fishing by foreign vessels, but complained that the government has failed to create needed infrastructure at Indonesia's ports. There are only five Indonesian ports (Medan, Semarang, Makassar, Tanjung Perak, and Tanjung Priok) large enough for KML's export needs. However, even these ports do not have the facilities to do direct export to the U.S. KML containers bound for the U.S. must first go to Singapore and undergo consolidation on a larger vessel before continuing to their final destination. This adds time and cost to the bottom line in an industry where speed and freshness are key. Shipping fish from Surabaya to Japan (over 3000 miles) is cheaper than shipping fish barely 500 miles between fishing grounds near Makassar, Sulawesi, to processing facilities near Surabaya. Costs stay high due to infrequent inter-island shipping schedules and a captive market. MCCLELLAND