Anxiety and Resignation Among Small Traders as Rupiah Weakens

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The depreciation of the rupiah exchange rate against the US dollar is causing anxiety and resignation among actors in Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (UMKM).

A tempeh artisan from Kebayoran, South Jakarta, Maghfiroh (43), is worried that the rupiah’s weakening will drive up soybean prices further.

Soybeans, the main raw material for tempeh, are known to be one of the imported commodities.

Meanwhile, the rupiah’s weakening generally causes the prices of imported commodities to rise.

Maghfiroh produces 70 to 75 kilograms of tempeh daily and sells it at Palmerah Market.

For production needs, Maghfiroh purchases 1 ton of soybeans.

According to her, every time she shops, the soybean price increases by Rp 5,000 per quintal or Rp 500 per kilogram.

“So if we shop per ton, per ton it means an increase of fifty thousand,” said Maghfiroh.

Even though raw materials are soaring, Maghfiroh admits she cannot raise the selling price or reduce the size of the tempeh.

A price increase of even Rp 500 per piece or a smaller size would be protested by buyers.

On the other hand, Maghfiroh is also faced with a sharp rise in plastic prices due to supply disruptions of naphtha raw materials from West Asia (Middle East) as a result of war.

“Customers don’t want it smaller, they don’t want it thinner either. So we keep the quality the same, the price the same, so the profit decreases,” said Maghfiroh.

The same anxiety is felt by the owner of a food stall, Nurhayati (63). She said she heard news of the rupiah weakening when it fell to Rp 17,400 per US dollar yesterday, Tuesday (13/5/2026).

That moment was then used to exchange foreign currency (valas) that she received from her child into rupiah.