Prabowo Cuts Fertiliser Prices by 20% Amid Global Fertiliser Crisis
JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com - Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman stated that President Prabowo Subianto has cut subsidised fertiliser prices by up to 20% amid the global fertiliser crisis.
Amran said the policy was set to ensure that national food production continues uninterrupted.
Prabowo cut the subsidised fertiliser prices well before the conflict in West Asia (Middle East) erupted, disrupting urea supplies in the global market.
“President Prabowo has seen from the start that the world is heading towards a period of instability,” said Amran, as quoted from the official statement of the Indonesian Government Communication Agency (Bakom) RI, Tuesday (5/5/2026).
Due to the war, many countries are now experiencing a fertiliser crisis because the urea supply chain from Gulf countries in West Asia has been severed.
“He ordered us not to wait for the crisis but to anticipate it through policy,” Amran stated.
The 20% fertiliser discount has been in effect since 2025. The subsidised fertiliser discount of up to 20% has continued to date with a volume of 9.8 million tonnes valued at Rp46.87 trillion.
Currently, the impact of the war in West Asia between Israel and the United States (US) against Iran, which erupted on 28 February, has led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
That waterway is known as a distribution route for global fertiliser trade. At the same time, China has halted exports of major nitrogen fertilisers.
As a result, global urea prices have plunged sharply by up to 40%.
Trading Economics data shows that global urea prices are now at $585 per tonne.
Since the war erupted, urea prices once reached their highest level at $720 per tonne on 15 April.
Not only cutting fertiliser prices, the government has also shortened the long distribution chain for fertilisers, which previously made the product difficult for farmers to access.
Prabowo eliminated 145 fertiliser regulations through a Presidential Instruction, making the distribution chain more effective.