Parna Raya Group, through its subsidiary PT Bara Blasting Perkasa, has recently kicked off construction of an integrated nitrate complex plant with US$300 million (approximately Rp4.9 trillion) of investment in Maspion Industrial Estate, Gresik, East Java province.

Sulphur supply difficulties and the rising prices due to Iran war and closure of the Strait of Hormuz have affected not only plantation companies but metal processing industry in Indonesia. Their margins will likely under bigger pressure in the second quarter onwards.

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. 

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).

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.

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.