Polymers & Plastics in the First Quarter (2)
Over the weekend, we met Ujang, a small vegetable farmer in West Java. Ujang complained about more than 50% hike of plastic mulch roll. “I used to buy Rp700,000 per roll, but now I can’t afford to pay more than Rp1 million. My margins are already too low,” he said.
Polymers & Plastics in the First Quarter (1)
Commercial operation of the country’s second olefin center by PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia , built with over US$4 billion of investment, started to contribute to improvement in financials of IDX-listed sister company PT Lotte Chemical Titan Tbk (FPNI).
Textile industry losing more jobs
Prabowo administration pledged US$6 billion of investment to revitalize the country’s ailing textile industry this year. Implementation of the program, however, is not entirely clear. Textile industry players, in the meantime, dismissed more workers.
Cement industry losing more jobs
Cemindo Gemilang (CMNT), the third largest cement manufacturer listed on IDX—-controlled by Sitorus Brothers, claimed improvement in the first quarter of 2026, but this company dismissed 306 workers in the period or 7.9% of its total workforce.
Gainers of Iran War: ESSA Industries
Ammonia producer ESSA Industries booked net profit of US$18.8 million in the first quarter of 2026, surged by 132% from the corresponding period last year due to the spike of ammonia price related to Iran war.
Iron & steel in Q1: Mixed results
Three iron and steel companies listed on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX)—-Krakatau Steel, Spindo, and Garuda Metalindo—-reported mixed financial results in the first quarter of 2026. Krakatau and Garuda Metalindo improved on sales and margins, while Spindo weakened. All of them, however, cut workforce in the period.
One country, many EV policies
Electric vehicle (EV) transition is no longer a unified national project. It is becoming a patchwork of provincial experiments—each shaped less by strategy than by fiscal pressure. With new rules issued via the Ministry of Home Affairs, regional governments are no longer required to keep EV taxes at zero. They can now impose or reduce levies such as vehicle ownership tax (PKB) and transfer fees (BBNKB) at their own discretion.
Supply chain disruption for petrochemicals
PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia (LCI), which operates the second largest petrochemical centre in the country, has secured a naphtha supply from Malaysia to ensure the continuity of production amid disruption of global supply chain due to conflicts in the Middle East.
Electric dreams, taxed reality
Electric vehicle (EV) push is beginning to look like a policy contradiction. At the very moment the government reiterates its ambition to accelerate the energy transition, it is quietly allowing a key incentive to erode. With the issuance of a new regulation through the Ministry of Home Affairs, regional governments are no longer bound to keep EV taxes at zero. Instead, they are given discretion to impose or reduce levies such as vehicle ownership tax (PKB) and transfer fees (BBNKB).
From iPhone dreams to AirTag reality
For years, Indonesia has chased a singular industrial ambition: to become part of Apple’s global manufacturing chain. The logic has always been straightforward. If Vietnam can assemble AirPods and iPads, and India can produce iPhones, then Southeast Asia’s largest economy should be able to do the same. The recent confirmation that AirTag devices are now being assembled in Batam and exported to the United States appears to validate that aspiration. But the reality is more complicated—and far less transformative.