Indonesian Trade Minister rescinded exports of Personal Protective Equipment due to domestic oversupply. Nullifying the earlier ban, manufacturers are allowed by the Ministry regulations to export surgical and N- 95 masks, coveralls, surgical gowns, and raw material to make a face mask.
Manufacturers can now apply for export permits through the government’s online export-import licensing system Indonesia National Single Window (INSW).
They will then be required to provide documents such as a business permit, a six-month export plan, and a statement to prove that they have stocks to meet domestic demand to be granted export approval, according to Indonesian newspaper reports.
The country’s exports fell by 28.95 percent year on year (YoY) in May to $10.53 billion, the lowest since July 2016, due to reduced shipments of coal, coffee, palm oil, as well as oil and gas.
Meanwhile, textile manufacturers, who are suffering from dwindling demand due to the pandemic, switched to manufacture PPE products, leading to an oversupply of domestic production.
Indonesia’s production capacity of surgical masks more than doubled to 394 million per month in April over the pre-pandemic level. The supply is expected to exceed domestic consumption by 2 million this year.
Meanwhile, manufacturers can now produce 54 million coveralls a month, dwarfing the pre-pandemic figure of a million per month.
