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Permendag 6/2026 is the fourth amendment to Permendag 22/2023 (the prohibited-export-goods regulation), operating in parallel with Permendag 5/2026 (fourth amendment to Permendag 23/2023 — the export-licensing and policy-procedures regulation). Both were signed on 26 March 2026 and took effect 1 April 2026, constituting a coordinated twin-regulation package.
The four operative changes:
1. Nitrogen fertilizer / urea export ban (new addition) Mineral and chemical fertilizers containing nitrogen elements — including urea fertilizer in all forms — are added to the prohibited-export list. This is a food-security export-control instrument: Indonesia is both a large domestic consumer and a significant producer of urea (primarily through PT Pupuk Indonesia subsidiaries including Petrokimia Gresik, Pupuk Kaltim, and Pupuk Sriwidjaja Palembang), and fertilizer scarcity during 2022-23 contributed to domestic food-price volatility. The export ban ensures domestic agricultural supply is prioritised. As a food-security N-fertilizer trade instrument it is structurally peer to Egypt's Decision 190/2026 (nitrogen-fertilizer $90/ton export duty filed 2026-05-04) — both reflect 2026-cohort South-South fertilizer-supply nationalism.
2. Rice export liberalisation (removal from prohibited list) Rice is removed from the prohibited-export list, a politically significant reversal. Indonesia had maintained rice-export restrictions as part of its food-security architecture during the 2023-2025 period of rice-import dependence and domestic price escalation. The removal coincides with a better harvest outlook for 2026 and excess stocks in Bulog (the state food-logistics agency). This is the first major Indonesian agricultural export-prohibition removal in the 2026 cohort and has direct implications for ASEAN rice-trade flows, particularly into the Philippines, Malaysia, and sub-regional markets.
3. Wood / timber hilirisasi extension (new addition) Rough wood, sawn wood, and wood carpentry and building products from both coniferous and non-coniferous species are added under a value-added export-requirement framework — prohibited from export until value-added domestic processing requirements are met. This extends Indonesia's hilirisasi (downstream-processing) doctrine — previously applied to nickel ore (2020), bauxite (2023), copper concentrate (2024), ilmenite/rutile (Permendag 5/2026 same day) — into the forestry and wood-products sector. Indonesia is the world's 2nd-largest tropical-timber producer and holds significant shares in plywood, furniture, and pulp/paper production. The wood hilirisasi measure is designed to push domestic value-added processing and reduce raw-log and sawn-timber exports.
4. Rattan (continued prohibition) Whole or split rattan weaving materials remain on the prohibited-export list without change — the regulation reaffirms the existing instrument rather than modifying it.
5. Other classifications updated Adjustments to metal scrap (cross-border scrap-metal trade flows to Chinese, Indian, and Vietnamese steel recyclers), cultural-heritage goods, subsidised fertilizers (distinct from the new export-ban mechanism above, concerning the redistribution of subsidised-fertilizer stocks), and seabed sedimentation results.