Reporter: Dimas Andi |Editor: Herlina Kartika DewiKONTAN.CO.ID - JAKARTA.PT Argha Karya Prima Industry Tbk (AKPI) is optimistic that it will be able to continue the positive trend of its performance in the remainder of 2021 despite the decline in demand for packaged products due to the ban on going home for Eid.The company is also trying to strengthen sales both in the local market and in the export market.For the record, AKPI's net sales rose 11.73% (yoy) to Rp 639.40 billion in the first quarter of 2021.AKPI was also able to record a net profit of Rp 19.18 billion in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the results of the first quarter of 2020 where the company suffered a net loss of Rp 2.53 billion.Director of Argha Karya Prima Industry Jimmy Tjahjanto said that the slick performance achieved by AKPI in the first quarter could not be separated from market demand which is still quite high and is directly proportional to the increasing public demand for packaged products.With these results, AKPI is still targeting a total net sales of Rp 2.4 trillion by the end of the year.Read also: Argha Karya Prima Industry records net sales of Rp 639.40 billion in the first quarter of 2021"Our strategy is to continue to prioritize packaging sales for the food and beverage industry and continue to strive to increase premium products," he said, Friday (21/5).Packaging products for food and beverages are generally in great demand by customers during Ramadan and Eid.Apart from this sector, AKPI also produces packaging for cigarettes, paper lamination, adhesive tape, and so on.Unfortunately, this year's conditions are quite challenging due to the Eid homecoming ban policy.Although the effect is not so significant, the policy still has an impact on decreasing demand for packaged products in the market.What's more, the moments of Ramadan and Lebaran usually contribute more to AKPI's income than other festive seasons, such as Christmas and New Year's holidays.AKPI's management is still focused on increasing sales of its products in the local market, which in fact contributes 60-65% of the company's total revenue.The regions in Indonesia that contributed the largest sales to AKPI were Java and Sumatra.Jimmy added that his party also continues to target opportunities to increase sales to the export market.Currently, the demand for packaged products in the export market appears to be more competitive due to intense competition from Asian and European countries.To anticipate these challenges, AKPI prioritizes the export of premium quality products."Of course, these products have competitive prices and superior quality," he added.While boosting sales, AKPI is also trying to complete a capacity expansion project for the Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene (BOPP) packaging business line.The results of the project will increase AKPI's production capacity to around 30% of the existing capacity of around 122,500 tons per year.AKPI has also provided a capital expenditure (capex) budget of US$ 30 million from internal cash and bank funding to execute the business expansion agenda.The new facility from the BOPP is targeted to be operational in the fourth quarter of 2021."Currently we are undergoing the installation stage," said Jimmy.Next up: Argha Karya Prima Industry (AKPI) pursues sales of IDR 2.4 trillion in 2021Check other News and Articles on Google News