Naphtha imports planned
The government will import naphtha from India, the United States and Africa as a targeted step to stabilise domestic plastic prices. Officials framed the move explicitly as price-stabilisation and named those source regions in announcements this week. (cnbcindonesia.com)
Indonesia is lining up naphtha imports from India, the United States and Africa after a spike in plastic raw-material costs hit local manufacturers. (en.antaranews.com) Trade Minister Budi Santoso said on Monday, April 13, 2026, that supply from the three new sources was already in process and would begin arriving after a transition period. He said Indonesia was still relying on existing stocks while waiting for shipments. (en.antaranews.com) The government began publicly outlining the plan on April 1 and repeated it on April 9 and April 13, with Santoso and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Minister Maman Abdurrahman both tying the move to disruptions in Middle East supply lines. Officials said most imported naphtha had been coming from that region. (en.antaranews.com 1) (en.antaranews.com 2) Naphtha is a petroleum product that petrochemical plants crack into ethylene and propylene, the basic building blocks for plastic resin, rubber and some solvents. When naphtha costs jump or ships are delayed, the price pressure moves through to packaging, cups, bags and other plastic goods. (en.antaranews.com) (sciencedirect.com) That pressure has been visible in Indonesia this month. Local reports on April 13 said plastic prices in the domestic market had risen about 30 percent to 40 percent, while other industry reporting put the increase for some products as high as 80 percent. (koran-jakarta.com) (jakartaglobe.id) Indonesia’s exposure is large because the country imports all of its annual naphtha requirement, estimated at around 3 million tons, according to industry data cited by Jakarta Globe on April 6. The same report said about half of key plastic raw materials, including polyethylene and polypropylene, are also imported. (jakartaglobe.id) The regional backdrop is wider than Indonesia. ICIS reported in March that Asia’s petrochemical system is structurally dependent on imported naphtha and that major producers across the region imported 86.6 million tonnes in 2025. (icis.com) Officials have described the import shift as a short-term supply fix, not a permanent redesign of the plastics industry. Maman said the government was also preparing longer-term alternatives, including plastics made from seaweed and cassava, to reduce dependence on naphtha. (en.antaranews.com) (jawawa.id) For now, the government’s immediate benchmark is simpler: get replacement cargoes into Indonesia fast enough that plastic producers can keep running on current inventories and stop further price jumps from spreading through the market. (en.antaranews.com)
