Indonesia supports domestic ethanol industry by restricting import market

In Indonesia, the Jakarta Post newspaper reports Trade Minister Budi Santoso has reinstated rules to end duty-free ethanol imports in an effort to protect the domestic sugarcane industry and molasses prices so they can be used for feedstock. The government has also put in rules to limit cassava imports. Ministries as well as industry had called for the protections in the face of competition threatening domestic production for ethanol. Indonesia has sought over decades to create a competitive ethanol industry that would allow for blending and fossil fuel import reduction.