PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) has reaffirmed its commitment to ensuring the availability and affordability of fertilizer for farmers, one of which is through the strategy of revitalizing the fertilizer industry. This strategy involves modernizing aging plants and building new ones to improve production efficiency.

This efficiency allows Pupuk Indonesia to reduce production costs, thereby keeping both subsidized and non-subsidized fertilizer prices affordable for farmers. On the other hand, the presence of modern and reliable plants also strengthens the long-term continuity of fertilizer supply, ensuring that farmers’ fertilizer needs can be consistently met. To sustainably realize these benefits, the revitalization effort also requires support and collaboration from various stakeholders.

“In the future, we will carry out revitalization because many of our plants are old. It’s been a long time since we’ve built a new one. This revitalization will require IDR 54 trillion, but we are committed to doing it,” said Rahmad Pribadi, President Director of Pupuk Indonesia, in Jakarta.

Rahmad gave an example that out of the 15 urea plants owned by Pupuk Indonesia, eight have been operating for more than 30 years. As a result, the average gas consumption to produce one ton of urea reaches 28 MMBTU, which is higher than the global standard. Specifically, for the eight plants over 30 years old, the average gas consumption can reach 32.2 MMBTU per ton of urea.

“For urea, our energy consumption ratio is currently very high — on average, it’s 28 MMBTU of gas per ton of urea,” said Rahmad.

Therefore, revitalizing the fertilizer industry is a key step for Pupuk Indonesia in addressing the challenges posed by its aging and inefficient plants. Through revitalization, gas consumption across the Pupuk Indonesia Group is projected to be reduced to 25 MMBTU per ton of urea by 2035. This efficiency will lower production costs and enable Pupuk Indonesia to offer more affordable fertilizer for farmers.

“Mr. Prabowo has positioned food security as a key national priority, and we are highly motivated to continue supporting national food security,” Rahmad added.

As part of this revitalization initiative, Pupuk Indonesia has begun constructing the Pusri IIIB plant through its subsidiary, PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja Palembang (Pusri). Targeted for completion in 2027, Pusri IIIB will replace an aging plant and introduce modern infrastructure that will reduce gas consumption from 32 MMBTU per ton to 21.7 MMBTU per ton of urea. This level of efficiency is expected to result in production cost savings of approximately IDR 1.5 trillion per year.

“We are currently building a plant called Pusri IIIB, which will replace the old one. With this plant, Pusri — the oldest fertilizer company — will have the youngest and most efficient average plant age,” said Rahmad.