Industry Confidence Index Drops Dramatically to 51.86 in March, Ministry of Industry: Seasonal Factors

Manufacturing (Photo: dok. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Industry (Kemenperin) recorded that the industrial confidence index (IKI) in March 2026 reached 51.86.

This figure dropped drastically to 2.16 points compared to IKI in February 2026 which was recorded at 54.02.

This was conveyed by the spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Febri Hendri Antoni Arif in the IKI March 2026 Release at the Ministry of Industry's office, Jakarta, Tuesday, March 31.

"IKI in March 2026 reached 51.86, still expanding even though it slowed down 2.16 points compared to February 2026 at 54.02. In addition, the value of IKI also slowed down 1.12 points compared to the value of IKI in March last year at 52.98," said Febri.

Febri added that in March, there were 16 subsectors that experienced expansion. The contribution of these 16 subsectors to gross domestic product (GDP) was 78.3 percent.

Meanwhile, there are seven sub-sectors of industry that have contracted, including the beverage industry, the tobacco processing industry, the wood industry, goods from wood and cork (excluding furniture) and woven goods from bamboo, rattan and the like.

Then, the chemical materials and goods from chemicals, non-metallic mineral goods industry, computer industry, electronic and optical goods, and electrical equipment industry.

According to him, the decline in industry performance in the third month occurred due to a combination of several factors. The main factor is seasonal due to the passing of a number of major religious days such as Chinese New Year and Lebaran. This condition makes the industry reduce production.

Based on information from the industry, Febri said that some entrepreneurs chose to reduce production because of the abundance of stock in warehouses that had not been distributed to distributors or markets. The stock buildup occurred due to restrictions on logistics vehicles for 16 days before and after Eid.

In addition, the decline in production in March occurred because a number of industries experienced a surge in January and February.

"So, in March, reduce production and keep stocks in warehouses until Eid," he said.

He said that the energy crisis due to the escalation of the Middle East has not had a significant impact on all industries. According to him, the impact of the conflict between America-Israel against Iran is still limited to certain industries. Mainly sectors that still depend on raw materials from the Middle East such as petrochemicals.

The Ministry of Industry also noted a slowdown in the performance of export-oriented and domestic industries. The performance of the export industry in March 2026 was recorded at 52.73 or slowed down 1.88 points compared to February 2026.

The same thing happened to domestic market-oriented industrial companies, whose performance was recorded at 50.44 or slowed down by 2.68 on a monthly basis.

"Domestic IKI in March 2026 reached 50.44, still expanding, although it also experienced a slowdown of 2.68 points compared to February 2026 which was 53.12," he explained.