The largest publicly-listed petrochemical company in Indonesia, PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP) continues to contribute to Indonesia’s industrial development.
Today, the company is owned by two major shareholders, Barito Pacific Group and SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd. (SCG), a subsidiary of SCG Group, Thailand. As the company celebrates its 25th anniversary, Synergy Media Specialists asked Suryandi, Director of Human Resources and Corporate Affairs/Corporate Secratary, about CAP’s role within Indonesia’s industrial sector, plans for the future and Indonesia’s role in ASEAN.
How has Chandra Asri’s business evolved since being founded 25 years ago?
Since the establishment of the company in 1992, CAP has evolved tremendously. It all started when the two companies; PT Tri Polyta Indonesia Tbk (the largest Polypropylene producer in Indonesia) and PT Chandra Asri (a major producer of Olefins and Polyethylene) merged on January 1st, 2011 to create PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk – CAP.
After the merger, CAP’s reputation as Indonesia’s leading and preferred petrochemical company became more robust. We became the sole domestic producer for Ethylene, Styrene Monomer and Butadiene, the largest producer of Polypropylene, and one of the two producers of Polyethylene in Indonesia. Today CAP delivers the basic ingredients found in various consumer and industrial products. Over the years, the company kept its focus and continued growing by expanding production capacity and diversifying its product portfolio.
CAP always focused on business integration by delivering added-value solutions across the company’s production chain, leading us to become the largest integrated petrochemical company in Indonesia.
Chandra Asri contributes to the Indonesian economy in various ways. What are you most proud of in terms of the company’s successes and role as an economic growth driver here in Indonesia?
Increasing the scale of our business is very important to us and we continue to expand our capacity, integrate plant facilities and diversify our portfolio. These steps have enabled us to strengthen our leading position in the domestic petrochemical industry and have a positive impact on the Indonesian economy.
Furthermore, CAP products help the nation to reduce its reliance on imported goods and help to save the country’s foreign exchange reserves. As a profitable company and responsible corporate citizen, we also contribute to the country’s tax receipts – both direct and indirect taxes – which fund the country’s development initiatives.
As our business continues growing, so we also require more manpower. We create numerous job opportunities across Indonesia and are proud of the fact that we have developed a locally-skilled labour force.
In addition, our company also creates a positive impact on newly established businesses and creates employment opportunities; especially for downstream industries, suppliers and other stakeholders.
What can we expect from the company in the next 2-3 years regarding investments, partnerships and growth strategies?
CAP always seeks opportunities to develop reliable partnerships. We established a strategic partnership with SCG Chemicals Co. Ltd., one of Thailand’s largest integrated petrochemical companies, and also one of our major shareholders.
This partnership benefited us in terms of production know-how and enabled us to share best operational practices, raw material procurement savings and ultimately accelerated CAP’s expansion plans.
We are also a strategic partner with Michelin, one of the world’s leading tire companies. Together we constructed a synthetic rubber facility which enriched the value chain across our petrochemical products.
We also strengthen and leverage our advantages as a leading company to retain exceptional relations with all of our stakeholders. CAP is also committed to maintaining and improving its best-in-class operating standards, cost efficiency, health and safety standards and environmental initiatives.
In order to ensure the implementation of these strategies, we invest in our human capital. By developing and nurturing our workforce, we have a skilled and competent human-resource pool for our current operations and future expansion.
In addition to expanding our product offerings, we intend to increase our production capacity by a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of six per cent over the next few years.
What final message would you like to share with our readers across ASEAN in this important 50th anniversary year about Chandra Asri and Indonesia’s economic potential?
Indonesia is a country with huge potential and we have a burgeoning population of some 250 million. In line with this, annual GDP growth is forecast to exceed five per cent and the Government is continuing to improve the country’s infrastructure.
However, in our industry, Indonesia is structurally deficient in terms of the production of petrochemical products and relies heavily on imports from other countries. Throughout our twenty five year of operations, we always aimed to grow in order to contribute to Indonesia’s economic growth.
By expanding capacity, diversifying our product portfolio, and integrating our businesses, we are not only gradually replacing imports and reducing the country’s foreign exchange outflows; we are also expanding our petrochemical footprint in Indonesia to meet the growing market demand for plastic products which is increasing in line with the country’s GDP.
Looking forward, CAP will continue to strengthen its commitment to the country’s industrial development. As a pillar of the country’s industrial sector, we look forward to playing a role in Indonesia’s continued economic development.
