Indonesia Faces Sulphur Crisis Threat as 80% Imported from Arab Countries!
Indonesia’s dependence on sulphur imports is beginning to threaten the sustainability of its nickel downstreaming industry. Disruptions to the global supply chain, particularly from the Middle East region, could potentially disrupt the operations of nickel processing plants based on hydrometallurgy.
Chairman of the Indonesian Nickel Industry Forum (FINI), Arif Perdana Kusumah, revealed that around 75-80% of Indonesia’s sulphur import needs in 2025 come from the Middle East. From a total of approximately 5.3 million tonnes of imports, the largest portion is supplied by countries in that region.
“This highly concentrated supply, following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, will result in disruptions or even the complete cutoff of the main raw material source for HPAL refineries in Indonesia,” he told CNBC Indonesia on Thursday (23/4/2026).
Arif stated that sulphur is a crucial component in the nickel downstreaming industry, particularly for producing sulphuric acid used in the leaching process at High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL)-based processing facilities.
“Production of MHP (Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate) battery-grade nickel using HPAL technology is highly dependent on sulphuric acid,” he said.
In terms of requirements, the industry needs around 10-12 tonnes of sulphur to produce 1 tonne of nickel in the form of MHP. This makes sulphur one of the largest cost components in the HPAL production process.
“As the largest producer of nickel-cobalt material (MHP) from HPAL projects, Indonesia is highly dependent on sulphur imports from the Middle East,” he said.
As is known, the government has begun to be wary of potential disruptions in the sulphur supply chain that could impact the nickel downstreaming programme. This became apparent after the Chairman of the National Economic Council (DEN), Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, met with President Prabowo Subianto at the State Palace.
In that meeting, Luhut conveyed several recent developments, including risks from prolonged global conflicts that could affect the energy and strategic commodities sectors.
Through a post on his personal Instagram account @luhut.pandjaitan, he stated that over the next three months, Indonesia’s economic growth and activity would remain relatively stable.
Nevertheless, the government has prepared scenarios to anticipate various possibilities in facing a worsening global situation.
“Especially if this global conflict lasts longer than we anticipated. One of the things we are monitoring is the surge in energy prices,” Luhut explained, quoted on Thursday (23/4/2026).
In addition, the government is also monitoring potential disruptions in the supply chain of other important commodities, particularly sulphur. Luhut assessed that this commodity plays a crucial role in the nickel downstreaming process as well as the development of electric vehicle batteries in Indonesia.
“Besides energy, we are also monitoring disruptions in the supply chain of other strategic commodities; such as sulphur, which is crucial for nickel downstreaming and electric vehicle batteries,” he said.