Kimberly-Clark is not a new player in Indonesian diaper market. It is in the market with popular brands like Kotex and Huggies. Competition, however, is tough with other global players including Procter and Gamble (Pampers), Uni-Charm, Kao Corp (Laurier), and various brands from PT Softex Indonesia (Softex, Sweety, Confidence, etc). 

PT Pertamina (Persero) is attempting to secure a US$ 3 billion loan to support its acquisition of several assets. Global Capital reported that Pertamina is targeting a loan from six banks: BNP Paribas, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Group, MUFG Bank, CITI, Credit Agricole, and Societe Generale.

PT Unggul Indah Cahaya Tbk (UNIC), the only domestic manufacturer of linear alkyl benzene (LAB), key raw material in the production of soap and detergents, is one of few petrochemical companies benefited from the strict implementation of health protocols to contain Covid-19 outbreak. 

PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk have commenced operation of its new methyl ter-butyl ether (MTBE) and butene-1 (B1) plants, first of their kind in Indonesia. Construction of both plants were completed amidst the ongoing pandemic to significantly reduce reliance on import. The MTBE has design capacity of 128,000 tons per annum, while B1 has 43,000 tons per annum. 

The Rokan Block is undergoing a management transition from Chevron Pacific Indonesia (PT CPI) to PT Pertamina. It is being thoroughly evaluated. Included in the process is an environmental audit. The Special Task Force for Upstream Oil and Gas Business Activities (SKK Migas) has confirmed that the Rokan Block environmental audit was completed in August 2020.

After 40 years of waiting, the Umbulan water pipeline project in East Java province, one of the largest clean water infrastructure projects in the country, has finally been 100% complete. Built with Rp2.05 trillion of investment, including Rp818 billion of viability gap fund (VGF) from the government, the project will supply 4,000 l/second of clean water to 310,000 households in the second most populous province.

Indonesia’s infrastructure index is set to improve further with commercial operation of two major ports in West Kalimantan, a fast growing province with huge investments in palm oil and metal processing industries, and West Java, home to the country’s major manufacturing facilities, including automotive industry.

A prolonged economic crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic hurts everybody, including newspapers. Mahaka Media (ABBA), publisher of Republika newspaper, which is owned by the family of Erick Thohir (minister of state-owned enterprises), among others, suffered more than 50% fall in revenues in the first half of 2020.

Over two hundred employees of an LG Electronics facility in Cikarang, West Java, have tested positive with COVID-19. The Spokesperson of the Bekasi Regency’s COVID-19 Mitigation Task Force, Alamsyah, broke the news to reporters yesterday (Aug. 25).  Over 600 employees...