PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery (WHWAR), a joint venture between Indonesian Harita Group’s Cita Mineral Investindo (CITA, where Glencore International is a minority partner), China Hongqiao Limited and Winning Investment Co Ltd, started commercial operation of smelter grade alumina (SGA) in West Kalimantan in 2016. 

Indonesian government has in the past few years splashed 10 to 20-year tax holidays to Chinese companies investing in metal processing. Most of these smelters, interestingly, have enjoyed hefty profits in their early years of operations. 

Naphtha, key raw material for petrochemical industry, lost 15.5% year-on-year to mirror correction of crude oil. Petrochemicals, unfortunately, are not benefited from lower input costs because of persistent oversupply of polymers in the region due to growing capacity in China.

Shares of PT Steel Pipe Industry of Indonesia Tbk (ISSP) ended slightly higher by 0.5% to Rp394 last Friday (Aug 22). It is among the best performing stocks in the past five months or so with over 60% gain, thanks to favourable valuation.

China’s Yingfa Ruineng Technology Co Ltd, through its subsidiary PT Bintan Cellular Indonesia, plans to expand its solar cell manufacturing facility in overseas market by expanding the construction of its phase II of its production base in Indonesia. The company plans to construct an additional five production lines with additional production capacity of 3GW per annum in Riau Islands. 

Indonesia’s government has entered a new phase in public procurement policy with the issuance of Presidential Regulation No. 46/2025, a revision that strengthens the mandate to prioritize domestically made goods in all government procurement, from central ministries to the most remote village administrations. While the regulation is primarily aimed at boosting local industry, its impact will be felt equally by the private sector and the bureaucracy tasked with implementing it.

Amman Mineral (AMMN), second largest gold and copper producer in the country, cut its investments (cash-basis) from US$867 million in the first half of 2024 to US$711.8 million in the corresponding period this year. Other companies, however, spent significantly higher to make metal processing as, still, main driver of investments.

Continuation (of policies) was just a campaign tagline to attract ‘loyalists’ of then president Jokowi because nearly one year into office, the government of Prabowo Subianto has significantly reduced commitment for infrastructure development, including the new capital city (IKN) Nusantara.

China’s solar energy companies, as reported on Reuters, cut nearly one-third of their workforces last year due to overcapacity, declining demand, and price wars. The world produces twice as many solar panels each year as it uses, with most of them manufactured in China, the world’s largest producer of solar panels.