Plastic Prices Surge, Threatening Closure of UMKM Bottled Water Industry
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - The Association of Bottled Drinking Water Companies (Aspadin) states that some of its members are at risk of closure due to the scarcity and high prices of plastic.
Aspadin General Chairman Firman Sukirman said that if plastic remains scarce in the next two months, several small, micro, and medium-sized enterprise (UMKM) bottled water industries will collapse.
Firman explained that bottled water producers are currently facing not only price increases but also shortages.
“It could be that in the next two months, some UMKM bottled water industries will be unable to produce due to a lack of raw materials,” Firman said when met at the Parliament Complex in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (7/4/2026).
Some types of plastic have even experienced increases of up to 70 per cent. As a result, the bottled water industry has no choice but to raise the prices of packaged water products.
“Like it or not, with these unreasonable prices, we have to adjust our prices. Why? Internal efficiencies alone are no longer sufficient,” Firman stated.
According to Firman, bottled water industry players could still make internal adjustments if the plastic price increase was only 2-3 per cent.
However, due to the excessively high plastic prices, they have now raised the prices of their packaged water products.
Some packaged water products in bundles have seen increases ranging from Rp 2,000 to Rp 3,000 per package.
Nevertheless, this does not rule out the possibility of packaged water prices rising further in line with plastic price fluctuations. “Some have raised it by Rp 2,000, others by Rp 3,000 per carton, meaning per pack,” he said.
It is known that plastic is expensive and scarce because 70 per cent of its raw material, naphtha, supplied from Gulf countries has stopped due to the war.
The conflict in West Asia has closed the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting the distribution of oil and petrochemical products.
Naphtha is a processed product from fossil fuels.
General Secretary of the Indonesian Market Traders Association (IKAPPI) Central Board, Reynaldi Sarijowan, stated that plastic prices have risen by up to 50 per cent from the days before the war.
“Far before entering Ramadan, it was still Rp 10,000. Then it gradually increased over a week, a week, a week, by Rp 500, by Rp 700, various amounts, until today the peak is projected at 50 per cent,” Reynaldi said when contacted by Kompas.com on Monday.