Jakarta. Investors had put Rp 52.7 trillion or approximately $3.2 billion in Indonesia’s palm oil sector so far this year as of September, with the money going into enabling the country to capture more value out of its top commodity, the government announced Friday.

Indonesia is forging ahead with its plan to refine its abundant resources at home so it can export higher-valued goods. While the massive industrialization remains heavily concentrated on minerals, multi-billion-dollar investments have flowed into palm oil processing between January and September 2025. Data showed that palm oil became the third most-popular commodity for investors tapping into Indonesia’s downstream sector over the said nine-month period.

“Nickel processing is still on the lead [with Rp 136.1 trillion] in realized investments, followed by copper [Rp 61.2 trillion] and palm oil [Rp 52.7 trillion],” Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani told a news conference in Jakarta.

Palm oil-related investments have been witnessing quarterly growth. About Rp 21 trillion in fresh investments went into Indonesia’s palm oil downstream sector in the third quarter alone, up from Rp 16.4 trillion seen in Q2 2025, the ministry reported. Investments totaled nearly Rp 15.3 trillion in the first quarter.

According to Rosan, the figures presented were not mere pledges, but actually reflected how much money the businesses had actually spent. 

The investment growth came amidst double-digit rise in exports, although the sales figures included crude palm oil (CPO). The Southeast Asian country had exported $16.66 billion worth of CPO and processed products between January and August 2025, soaring 35.23 percent year-on-year, data by the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) showed. 

Rosan did not say the country of origin of the palm oil investors. However, Indonesia attracted Rp 1,434.3 trillion in overall investments between January and September, 55.1 percent of which had come from local investors.