Scrap exporters supplying into Indonesia have to adhere to a new set of rules from July 1, which requires exporters to register with the Indonesian Embassy and Consulates in their respective countries.
The new scrap policy was finalised late last year. The procedure would usually take five days for completion but there could be delays due to the pandemic restrictions.
Indonesia is a significant destination for the scrap material exported from the US. From Jan-April 2020, Indonesia imported 195,000mt of recovered fibre from the US, the same accounts to 4pc of total fibre exports of US, 11mn lb of scrap plastic, the same is 3pc of total plastic exports. Indonesia passed a decree in favour of not treating these commodities as solid waste, unlike China, on May 27. This order allows contamination tolerance of 2pc for scrap commodity imports.
Under the new process, suppliers will submit documents including authenticated ‘Certificate of Good Standing’ from the Secretary of State where the said company is registered, a notarised letter of the statement, duly signed application form, company profile, articles of association or certificate of incorporation to the embassy. In the US, suppliers can submit the set of original documents to the embassy in Washington, DC or Consulate General in New York, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco or Los Angeles. The applicants will send a money order of $125 and a return envelope/prepaid airway bill with the tracking number.
In February, the Indonesian Government had announced easing scrap metal rules to reduce imports of steel billets. Domestic steel producers require 9mn mt of scrap to produce 4mn mt of steel billets, according to the government estimates. If the norms are relaxed, Indonesia could save $400 mn per year.