633 New Factories Under Construction in First Quarter

The Ministry of Industry has noted that 633 industrial companies reported plans to construct new production facilities or factories during the first three months of 2026. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Febri Hendri Antoni Arief, claimed that this indicates the manufacturing sector is in strong condition. “Its contribution continues to increase, employment absorption is growing, investment is expanding, and it remains the main pillar of the national economy. This is evidence that Indonesia’s industrial structure is becoming increasingly solid,” Febri stated in a written press release on Friday, 24 April 2026. The plans to build hundreds of factories, valued at Rp418.62 trillion in investment, are expected to absorb 219,684 workers. The highest number of reported new production facilities comes from the tobacco processing industry subsector, with 72 companies. This is followed by the beverage industry with 67 companies, and the food industry with 60 companies. Meanwhile, 49 companies in the chemical products and goods from chemical materials subsector will build new facilities. Based on investment value, the basic metals industry subsector is the largest contributor at Rp218.04 trillion from 24 companies. In second place is the chemical products and goods from chemical materials industry at Rp81.22 trillion, followed by the non-metallic mineral products industry at Rp12.1 trillion. From the perspective of job creation potential, the leather products, leather goods, and footwear industry subsector dominates with plans to absorb 37,350 people. This is followed by the basic metals industry with 25,592 people, and the chemical products and goods from chemical materials industry with 9,065 people. Febri stated that the construction activities in the first quarter of this year reflect the optimism of industry players towards prospects for domestic and export demand, while also serving as a positive signal for national manufacturing growth in 2026. He said the government continues to direct investments towards priority sectors such as the food and beverage industry, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automotive, electronics, textiles, and industries based on downstreaming of natural resources. According to him, Indonesia’s manufacturing sector remains resilient while other countries face pressures from global supply chain disruptions, energy price fluctuations, and geopolitical tensions. This statement was made by Febri referring to national industrial growth above 5 percent. “This demonstrates very strong resilience and Indonesia’s industrial competitiveness continues to improve,” he said. Febri is optimistic that industrial growth will continue with the implementation of industrial downstreaming policies, import substitution, strengthening of domestic component levels (TKDN), Industry 4.0 transformation, and expansion of non-traditional export markets.