Purbaya: There is no request for relaxation of import duties on plastic raw materials

Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa at the Presidential Palace Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday (8/4/2026). ANTARA/Prisca Triferna Violleta

JAKARTA - Minister of Finance (Menkeu) Purbaya Yudhi Sadewa said that so far there has been no request for the relaxation of import tariffs for plastic raw materials from industrial actors in the country.

"Ask (import duty facilitation) to the Ministry of Industry, then to me. It (plastic price) went up because the raw materials also went up, but when it goes down, it will go down too," said Purbayadi at the Presidential Palace complex, Jakarta, Wednesday, April 8, reported by ANTARA.

The affirmation is related to the sharp rise in the prices of various plastic products in the country as the import of raw materials is disrupted due to the conflict between Iran and the United States (US). The increase has occurred since the second week of Ramadan and continues every week.

Therefore, said Purbaya, plastic industry players need to discuss first with the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) regarding the request for import duty relief for raw materials such as naphtha and LPG.

Purbaya explained that the increase in plastic prices was temporary, because it was influenced by global raw material prices.

This, he said, was because the conflict in the Middle East was still hot, which put pressure on logistics costs.

Furthermore, he said that if the government made a new policy to protect the domestic plastic industry, then it was temporary.

"If there is a policy, we will definitely consider it. But they haven't come to me, so I don't know," he said.

He also stated that there had been no direct communication with the Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita to discuss the plastic issue.

Previously, the Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita emphasized that the government continues to strive to diversify raw materials to encourage the use of recycling to maintain the availability of national plastic in the midst of global geopolitical pressure.

Responding to the dynamics of the price and supply of plastic raw materials, Agus explained that the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East region has affected the global petrochemical industry supply chain, especially in naphtha as the main raw material for plastics.

In response, the Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) together with upstream petrochemical industry players took a number of strategic steps to maintain the sustainability of domestic production.

One of them is by expanding the source of raw material supply.

In addition, the optimization of the use of LPG is also carried out as a buffer raw material in the production process.

On the other hand, his party also encourages the increased use of high-quality recycled plastic as a substitute for raw materials.

Sharp rise

ANTARA's search data shows that this April 2026 is a difficult period for the domestic plastic industry because the surge in plastic ore prices in the domestic market jumped sharply by 30-70 percent, so it hit UMKM players and the packaging industry.

Meanwhile, around 22 percent of global petrochemical supplies come from the Middle East which passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Geopolitical tensions in the region hinder the flow of raw material imports into Indonesia, so that supplies become scarce and expensive.

Then in general, even though domestic capacity has increased, Indonesia still recorded a large plastic import value, as of February 2026 it reached around IDR 14.84 trillion with the main suppliers from China, Thailand and South Korea.

In general, the import tariff for the main polymer (plastic ore) according to the Indonesian Customs Tariff Book (BTKI) is an average of 5-10 percent for polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).