Palm Oil Fulfills Batik Industry Needs

 Jakarta, The Ministry of Industry continues to encourage the increase in added value of palm oil as one of Indonesia's leading commodities to become a product that has a higher selling price. This strategic effort is a manifestation of the implementation of the downstream policy in maintaining Indonesia's position as the largest palm oil producing country in the world, with a volume of 45.5 million metric tons per year.

"In addition to meeting the needs of the food and energy industries, palm oil processing has also penetrated the creative industry sub-sector such as the batik industry. Downstreaming of palm oil can produce products that are useful for the batik industry," said the Head of the Standardization and Industrial Services Policy Agency (BSKJI) of the Ministry of Industry, Andi Rizaldi in his statement in Jakarta, Thursday (10/31).

One of the derivative products of palm oil is stearin, which can be used as a substitute for imported paraffin, as well as coconut oil and kendal (animal fat). "In fact, this stearin can provide a sense of security for consumers regarding the halalness of the batik wax used. This effort can also strengthen the national halal industry ecosystem," said Andi.

This is what prompted the implementation of the Palm Oil Product Diversification Promotion activity in the East Java region and the Halal Promotion of Palm Oil Derivative Products through the Competency-Based Batik Workshop (batik wax making scheme). This activity was held in collaboration with the Center for Standardization and Service of the Craft and Batik Industry (BBSPJIKB) and the Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDPKS).

The activity, which was held for four days, October 21-24, 2024 in Pacitan, East Java, was also supported by the Industry and Trade Service of East Java Province, the Micro Business and Industry Cooperative Service of Pacitan Regency, the Industry and Trade Service of Malang Regency, and the Industry and Trade Cooperative Service of Malang City.

Head of BBSPJIKB Budi Setiawan said that 30 skilled workers who participated in the workshop came from East Java Province. They will receive a BNSP certificate with a batik wax making scheme with reference to SKKNI Number 104 of 2018.

"From the workshop scheme, five competency units will be taught and tested consisting of compiling work plans, sorting waste, processing used wax, making batik wax and testing the flexibility of wax, one of the components of which is stearin," he explained.

Budi added that the activity in Pacitan was part of a series of Palm Oil Product Diversification Promotion activities that had been running since August in Banjarbaru. "We hope that the BNSP certificate which is valid for three years for participants who have passed or are recommended by the assessor can be maintained and extended independently," he added.

In addition to encouraging the batik industry to utilize the potential of palm oil, this activity is also to show the Indonesian Government's support for the Indonesian palm oil industry which is Indonesia's leading product in the international market.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Pacitan Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Cooperatives and Industry Service, Prayitno, appreciated and welcomed the initiative from BBSPJIKB and BPDPKS and hoped that the workshop could improve the competence and competitiveness of batik actors in the Pacitan and East Java regions.

On that occasion, BBSPJIKB also handed over halal batik certificates, including the scope of goods for use, to eight batik industry actors in the East Java region who had gone through the mentoring stages to halal certification.

The batik industry actors who received halal certificates were Sri Nasifah from Jayanti Batik, Patemi from Batik Mekar Sejati, Evi Wahyu Astutik from Griya Batik Sengguruh, Astutik Ningtias from Batik Wagastu, Muthmainah from Batik Muthidea, Rahmi Masita Prihatiningtias from Batik Organic by Yagasu, Elok Evi Nurul Aini from Batik Mojo and Sri Widjayati from Batik Bambu Kenanga.

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