Petrokimia Gresik, an Agroindustrial Solutions company and a member of the Pupuk Indonesia holding company, is strengthening its strategy to secure sulfur supplies, a strategic commodity for the national fertilizer and chemical industry amidst geopolitical dynamics in the Middle East. This effort is part of the company's commitment to maintaining national food security and supporting the independence of the domestic industry. This was conveyed by Petrokimia Gresik's President Director, Daconi Khotob, while speaking at the Argus Fertilizer Asia Conference 2026 international conference in Bali on Tuesday (March 31, 2026).
"Around 33% of global sulfur trade, or 20 million tons per year, comes from the Persian Gulf region, and Indonesia still imports more than 75% of its sulfur needs from the Middle East. Geopolitical conflicts and disruptions to global logistics routes can impact global sulfur prices and supply," said Daconi.
Meanwhile, national sulfuric acid demand continues to increase, currently reaching around 19 million tons per year, with the largest contributions coming from the fertilizer sector and the downstream mineral industry, particularly nickel. This situation makes Indonesia one of the world's sulfur demand centers, making sulfur a strategic commodity in supporting food security and national industrial resilience.
He explained that Petrokimia Gresik is not only part of the sulfur supply chain, but also part of the solution for the national industry. Petrokimia Gresik itself has a sulfuric acid plant with a production capacity of 1.8 million tons per year, integrated with the production process for fertilizers and other chemical products.
"We have a sulfur processing facility into sulfuric acid that is integrated with the production process for fertilizers and chemical products. Through this facility, Petrokimia Gresik also contributes to strengthening the supply of raw materials for the domestic industry," explained Daconi.
Furthermore, Daconi stated that global geopolitical dynamics affecting global sulfur supply and prices require the company to strengthen its strategy for securing raw material supplies by strengthening its supply chain and optimizing domestic production capacity. To this end, Petrokimia Gresik is taking a number of strategic steps, including diversifying sulfur supply sources, strengthening long-term contracts to maintain supply and price stability, and strengthening raw material storage and distribution infrastructure.
"This step is crucial to maintaining the resilience of the national fertilizer and chemical industry, considering that sulfur and sulfuric acid are key raw materials in the production of phosphate and NPK fertilizers, and are used in various industries such as metal processing, water treatment, and other chemical industries," Daconi added.
He added that Indonesia is currently a center of global demand for sulfur, driven by mineral downstreaming policies, the expansion of the nickel battery supply chain in line with the growth in electric vehicle (EV) battery production—increasing sulfur demand, particularly for the high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) process, which uses large amounts of sulfuric acid. Furthermore, the implementation of increasingly stringent environmental regulations, which increase the need for sulfur-based processing, is increasing.
Daconi emphasized that amidst current global dynamics, Petrokimia Gresik's primary focus is maintaining supply and production stability to ensure national fertilizer needs are met as part of supporting national food self-sufficiency.
"We continue to make optimal efforts to maintain production continuity by strengthening the supply chain and domestic capacity, so that national fertilizer needs can continue to be met as part of national food security," Daconi concluded.
Attachments
| File | Type | Size | Download |
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| 18 SP Argus Fertilizer Asia Conference 2026 FINAL docx | 140 KB | Download |
