After years of talk and talk, South Korean Lotte Chemical Titan Holding Berhad has launched commercial operations at its Lotte Chemical Indonesia New Ethylene (LINE) project, an integrated petrochemical facility developed through its subsidiary, PT Lotte Chemical Indonesia (LCI).

PT ESSA Industries Indonesia Tbk, which generates most sales revenues from ammonia, suffered from squeezed margins from persistent oversupply in the chemical. In the first nine months of 2025, the company’s net profit dropped by 36.6% to US$21.3 million.

Few months back PT Teknologi Militer Indonesia (TMI), a company controlled by the military foundation under ministry of defence, introduced an EV concept car named i2C, Indigenous Indonesian Car. Is this the ‘national car’ to be developed by President Prabowo Subianto’s administration?

When President Prabowo Subianto’s administration proposed to include a “national car project” in Indonesia’s list of Proyek Strategis Nasional (PSN), many felt a sense of deja vu. The narrative was familiar — national pride, industrial independence, and a promise that in just a few years, Indonesia would finally have its own car “made by Indonesians.”

In his speech at the first anniversary of ruling the country, President Prabowo Subianto said Indonesia will have the national car within three years, and that he has set aside funds and location for the project.

Tsingshan Group (China) and POSCO (South Korea) plan to jointly build a stainless steel plant with a capacity of 2 million ton per annum in Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, Central Sulawesi. 

The government is committed to ending imports of table salt by 2025 and achieving self-sufficiency in industrial salt by 2027, as mandated by Presidential Decree No. 126 of 2022 on the Acceleration of National Salt Development. National demand for raw salt in 2024 and 2025 is projected at 4.9 million tons, with an annual growth assumption of 2.5% due to population and industrial sector growth. This year, domestic production is targeted at 2.25 million tons. Combined with a remaining stock of 836,000 tons, local supply is expected to cover 63% of total demand.

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.