Berger Paints, Singapore paint producer, has acquired 100% of Asian Paints International Pvt Ltd’s subsidiaries, PT Asian Paints Indonesia and PT Asian Paints Color Indonesia for SG$7.5 million. Both subsidiaries own manufacturing facility located in Karawang Industrial Estate, West Java province that spans in 5.3 hectares of land.

Shares of Tesla, used to be the world’s largest EV manufacturer, has collapsed 50% since Elon Musk joined Trump administration. BYD, which has taken over the top spot from Tesla, on the other hand, gained nearly 30% in the same period.

Shares of diapers manufacturer PT Uni-Charm Indonesia Tbk (UCID), a joint venture between Sinarmas Group (Widjaja Family) and Unicharm Corporation (Japan), ended lower by 0.74% on Tuesday (Mar 11) as investors responded negatively the company’s financial performance last year.

Indonesian government has finally accepted US$160 million ‘investment commitment’ from Apple Inc, far below initial demand of US$1 billion. With the so-called ‘innovation investment scheme’ to meet 35 percent local content, Apple Inc may resume sales of iPhone 16 in the country. 

Steel rebar and hot-rolled-coils (HRC) steel moved different ways so far. Steel rebar moved south as some countries imposed higher import tariffs on Chinese products, while HRC steel went north, gaining 28%. All of these would significantly impacting Indonesian economy, because iron & steel is now third largest export commodity behind thermal coal and palm oil. 

The bottled water industry in Indonesia is a highly competitive market dominated by major brands such as Aqua (Danone), Le Minerale (Mayora), Cleo (Tanobel), and Ades (Coca-Cola Amatil). Amid this intense competition, PT Wahana Pronatural,Tbk (WAPO)-a listed company that linked to families controlling Kapal Api Group- has launched Air Alam, a new bottled water brand poised to shake up the market. 

Minister of energy & mineral resources Bahlil Lahadalia, who is also head of Task Force for downstream industry development (which is strange given the existence of ministry of investment & downstream), claimed that he has proposed some downstream projects to President Prabowo Subianto that would be financed by Danantara. 

Sanken Electric Co Ltd has decided to close down its manufacturing facility in MM2100 industrial estate, Cikarang, West Java by June 2025. The announcement from ministry of industry was made when a big Japanese business delegation is reportedly in the country to meet the President’s brother.

President Prabowo Subianto talked about investments from Danantara in high-impact projects, including renewable energy, several times in the past few days. Details were not provided, but the country’s fast growing metal processing needs bigger supply of green energy so they can enter the global supply chain.

Shares of PT Merck Tbk (MERK), subsidiary of Germany’s Merck AG, ended flat at Rp3,470 on Thursday (Feb 13) to make a market capitalisation of Rp1.55 trillion only (less than US$100 million), nothing compared to its parent (60.2 billion Euros). Merck is among the oldest issuers listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IPO in 1981).