Pesticide imports concentrated in China

Indonesia’s pesticide supply chain runs through China: industry and trade data show the country relies heavily on Chinese-made active ingredients that local firms turn into finished farm chemicals. (bps.go.id) An active ingredient is the core chemical that kills a weed, insect, or fungus; formulators then mix it with solvents and additives before farmers buy the final product. Glyphosate is a herbicide used to kill weeds, and imidacloprid is an insecticide used against sap-sucking pests. (pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 1) (pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov 2) China sits at the center of that global trade. A 2024 academic review said China dominates pesticide exports, with glyphosate and imidacloprid among its best-known export products. (sciencedirect.com) Indonesia already buys more goods from China than from any other country. Statistics Indonesia said China accounted for 35.60% of Indonesia’s total imports in January-October 2024 and 34.52% in April 2025. (bps.go.id 1) (bps.go.id 2) That concentration matters for crops that depend on routine spraying, including rice, vegetables, and plantation commodities such as palm oil. When active ingredients are sourced from one dominant country, any disruption in shipping, prices, or export policy can hit formulators first and farmers next. (fao.org) (sciencedirect.com) The model across much of the developing world is not unusual: countries import the active ingredient, then do local formulation and distribution. A 2023 paper on global pesticide trade said imported active ingredients from China and India are increasingly being formulated locally in middle-income countries. (sciencedirect.com) Indonesia’s regulatory system is built around that market structure. The country registers pesticide products and active ingredients for use, while overseas study reports can be accepted in the approval process, according to a regulatory summary by CIRS Group. (cirs-group.com) The push for local production is no longer theoretical. In August 2023, China’s Hebang Biotech signed a land purchase agreement and joint-venture plan in East Java for an $800 million chemical base designed to produce 200,000 tons a year of glyphosate. (news.agropages.com) That project shows both sides of Indonesia’s dilemma. It would put more pesticide manufacturing inside Indonesia, but the investment, technology, and majority ownership disclosed in the deal are still tied to a Chinese producer. (news.agropages.com) At the same time, governments in Southeast Asia have kept pushing alternatives that use living organisms instead of synthetic chemicals. ASEAN’s regional guidelines call for wider use and trade of biological control agents, which are meant to reduce dependence on conventional pesticides in some crops and pest cycles. (asean.org) Indonesia’s immediate problem is not whether farmers will stop using pesticides. It is whether the country can secure enough of the chemicals it already depends on without leaving one overseas supplier base at the center of the chain. (fao.org) (bps.go.id)