This is Why Indonesia Still Imports Large Quantities of Salt Every Year

To meet domestic demand, Indonesia must import large quantities of salt every year. Although Indonesia is located in the tropics, not all areas are suitable for salt production.

According to data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), Indonesia's salt imports reached 2.83 million tons with a value of US$107.5 million throughout 2021. For this year, the government is targeting salt imports of 3 million tons.

The high salt imports are due to several factors, including:

* Domestic salt production does not yet meet the specifications required for industrial needs.
* The area of salt production land is still limited because not all areas of Indonesia are suitable for salt production.
* Despite being located on the equator, several Indonesian regions frequently experience cloudy weather.

Meanwhile, based on research by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) Research and Development Agency, national salt production amounted to 1.09 million tons last year. The projection for this year's salt production is 859,000 tons (prediction as of July 2022). The low projection of domestic salt production is due to natural (weather) factors resulting from the moderate La Niña and the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which remained in a negative phase at the beginning of the dry season.

"Approximately 54% of Indonesia's territory, including several national salt centers, has experienced the dry season, although rain is still observed," according to the KKP Research and Development Agency's research findings.

A consecutive La Niña event has been ongoing for the past few years (2020-2022). Similar conditions occurred in the periods 1973-1975 and 1998-2000, affecting salt availability during those times.

(read: This is a List of Countries Supplying Imported Salt to Indonesia)