Strait of Hormuz Global Urea Route Heats Up – Is Indonesian Farmers' Fertiliser Safe?
Jakarta — PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) is closely monitoring geopolitical developments in the Middle East region.
The company’s Corporate Secretary, Yehezkiel Adiperwira, stated that it is ensuring national fertiliser supplies remain secure. According to him, the company possesses adequate production capacity and raw material stock reserves, guaranteeing fertiliser availability and affordability for farmers.
“Amid the geopolitical dynamics unfolding, we are ensuring national fertiliser supplies remain safe so farmers can continue planting without worrying about fertiliser availability,” he said on Tuesday (17 March 2026).
He noted that Pupuk Indonesia Group’s current production capacity reaches 14.8 million tonnes per year for various fertiliser types. Specifically for urea fertiliser, Pupuk Indonesia’s capacity is sufficient to meet all domestic requirements.
He continued that fundamentally, national urea production is secure because its primary raw material—natural gas—can be supplied domestically with supply and pricing regulated by the Government.
Therefore, although conflict escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, which is one of the world’s critical urea distribution routes, occurs, this situation does not directly impact national urea fertiliser supply.
“Pupuk Indonesia is the largest urea producer in the Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and North Africa regions. With this strong production capacity, we can maintain optimal fertiliser supply for Indonesian farmers,” said Yehezkiel.
Beyond production capacity, Pupuk Indonesia is strengthening supply chain resilience through diversification of strategically imported raw material sources for fertiliser. Some fertiliser raw materials are not naturally available in Indonesia, such as phosphate (P) and potassium (K), which are key components in NPK fertiliser production.
Currently, Pupuk Indonesia obtains phosphate supplies from North African countries such as Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria. Potassium supplies, meanwhile, come from Canada and Laos, which are outside the Middle East conflict zone, enabling risks of supply disruption to be minimised.
Another fertiliser raw material potentially directly impacted by Middle East conflict escalation is sulphur (S). Sulphur is one of the raw materials used to produce sulphuric acid, which serves as a supporting component in NPK fertiliser production.
Currently, some sulphur supplies are indeed obtained from Middle Eastern countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait. Nevertheless, supply disruption risks can be relatively mitigated because sulphur can also be obtained from other countries such as Canada and Kazakhstan.
Additionally, some sulphuric acid requirements can be met from domestic sources. Through this raw material source diversification, the company can maintain optimal production processes so fertiliser availability for farmers remains secure.
Beyond raw material source diversification, Adiperwira noted that the company is also strengthening raw material stock management by maintaining adequate supplies of phosphate, potassium, sulphur, and sulphuric acid to support production.
“This raw material stock management strengthening also serves as an anticipatory measure against potential logistics cost increases from rising global oil prices,” he said.
On the other hand, he added that the company continues to improve energy efficiency and optimise raw material usage through an industry revitalisation programme supported by Presidential Regulation Number 113 of 2025.
The revitalisation programme includes plans for building new factories and renovating 7 factories over the next five years. This programme enables production capacity optimisation whilst promoting more efficient raw material usage.
“Our primary focus remains ensuring domestic fertiliser needs are met optimally,” Adiperwira concluded.