Kadin confident that Indonesia's manufacturing PMI will remain in expansion zone amid global pressures

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) assesses that the performance of Indonesia’s manufacturing industry will continue to hold in the expansion zone in the future, despite facing global pressures, as reflected in the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for March 2026, which remains in expansion. Kadin’s Deputy General Chairman for Industry, Saleh Husin, stated in Jakarta on Wednesday that although in expansion, the PMI for March experienced a monthly decline, primarily influenced by weakening demand, especially from export markets. “The decline in Indonesia’s Manufacturing PMI in March 2026 was mainly triggered by weakening demand, particularly the drop in new export orders, amid increasing global uncertainty,” he said. Additionally, production cost pressures due to rising energy prices and supply chain disruptions have also weighed on industrial activity. According to S&P Global data, Indonesia’s manufacturing PMI fell to 50.1 in March 2026 from the previous 53.8. Although down, this position still indicates that the manufacturing sector is in the expansion zone, albeit very thinly. Saleh believes that going forward, PMI performance still has the potential to remain in the expansion zone, but with high vulnerability to external pressures. “Going forward, as Deputy Chairman of Kadin for Industry, we tend to see the PMI still potentially holding in a thin expansion zone, but very vulnerable to external pressures,” he said. “Therefore, the direction of the PMI will be greatly determined by the recovery of global demand, energy price stability, and the effectiveness of government policies in maintaining industrial competitiveness,” he added. According to him, without external demand recovery and stabilisation of cost factors, the national manufacturing sector will face heavy challenges in sustaining expansion momentum amid global dynamics that remain full of uncertainty.