Antara News·Indonesia·Monday, November 2, 2026 at 01:43 PM UTC

Indonesia taps trade pacts to boost processed cocoa exports

Translate

Ahmad Muzdaffar, Uyu Liman

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Industry is maximizing the use of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) to expand export market access and sharpen the global competitiveness of Indonesia’s processed cocoa industry.

Industry Minister Muhammad Sarmuji said in an official statement here on Monday that the cocoa processing sector plays a pivotal role in solidifying the national industrial structure while adding domestic value to agricultural commodities.

According to Sarmuji, reinforcing the sector generates a broad multiplier effect by accelerating export growth, creating jobs, and delivering higher economic returns to local cocoa farmers.

Data from the ministry's National Industrial Information System (SIINas) indicates steady growth across the sector. Domestic cocoa grinding reached 112,628 tons in the third quarter of 2026, up 2.01 percent from 110,410 tons in the second quarter.

Cumulatively, grinding output from the first to the third quarter of 2026 totaled 307,882 tons, representing roughly 72.9 percent of the total volume processed throughout 2025.

Regionally, Indonesia also has an important role in Asia's cocoa processing sector. According to the Cocoa Association of Asia (CAA), the country accounted for 48 percent of Asia’s total third-quarter grinding volume, which stood at 233,767 tons.

This milestone underscores Indonesia’s strategic role in the regional supply chain and presents further opportunities to enhance the industry’s competitiveness.

On the commercial front, the cocoa processing sector recorded 93,253 tons in sales during the third quarter of 2026, marking a 9.5 percent increase from 85,138 tons in the previous quarter.

By product category, cocoa liquor saw the sharpest sales surge at 91.3 percent, followed by cocoa cake at 49.6 percent and cocoa butter at 8.8 percent. Conversely, cocoa powder sales contracted by 2.9 percent.

Putu Juli Ardika, the ministry's acting director general of agro-industry, noted that while these figures indicate a healthy upward trend, proactive measures remain crucial to ensure sustained production, secure raw material supplies, and broaden market reach.

Ardika pointed out that upstream operations continue to face climate-related hurdles, including prolonged rainy seasons and the threat of El Nino weather patterns. He stressed the need to counter these risks by strengthening cultivation techniques, improving plantation yields, and adopting climate-resilient farming practices.

On the downstream front, capitalizing on international trade frameworks like FTAs serves as a key strategy to drive competitiveness and increase exports of processed cocoa.

To maximize these opportunities, Ardika urged industry stakeholders to gain a thorough understanding of rules of origin (ROO), export documentation, regulatory compliance, and destination-market procedures.

The ministry underlined the importance of cross-sector synergy involving ministries, state agencies, industry associations, and private enterprises to convert trade pacts into sustainable export gains.

As part of this effort, the Ministry of Industry recently held an export development workshop to assist cocoa businesses in leveraging FTAs and utilizing government policy incentives.

View the original on Antara News →

KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.