Petrokimia ready to divert KCl imports amid Russian-Ukrainian war

Gresik, East Java (ANTARA) - State-owned petrochemical industry firm PT Petrokimia Gresik is ready to divert imports of one of its fertilizer raw materials, potassium chloride (KCl), from Russia or Belarus if affected by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

"We will not depend on one source in buying fertilizer raw materials, because there are still Canada and Jordan," Vice President of Corporate Communications at PT Petrokimia Gresik Awang Djohan Bachtiar stated here on Monday.

Bachtiar remarked that until now, the war had not directly impacted the imports of KCl. Nevertheless, he stressed, it has a risk of being affected since his company imports KCl from Russia.

He explained that Belarus borders Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, and Poland to the west.

"The KCl we buy from Russia or Belarus is risky, but we are not dependent or buying from one source only, as there are still Canada and Jordan," Bachtiar affirmed.

Bachtiar remarked that among several countries that PT Petrokimia Gresik imports KCl from, Canada has a larger chunk than Russia, Belarus, or Jordan.

He also stated that the price of KCl would not be too different if PT Petrokimia Gresik switches its imports to other countries.

"The international price of (KCl) is not much different," he remarked.

Meanwhile, according to the company's 2022 plan, rock phosphate, sulfur, KCl, and AlOH3 were some raw materials that must be imported by PT Petrokimia Gresik.

The exporting countries of these raw materials are Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Jordan, Belarus, Russia, Laos, and Turkey.

According to PT Petrokimia Gresik's official website, the company's biggest production capacity for the non-fertilizer category is 1,170 thousand tons of sulfuric acid per year, and for the fertilizer category, it is 1,030 thousand tons of urea fertilizer annually.