Academia
As many industry insiders feared, the mining sector's performance has weakened further, locking it into negative territory for the first half of the year.
A general view at the nickel smelter of PT Vale Indonesia in Sorowako, South Sulawesi, on August 2, 2024. (AFP/Muchtamir Zaide)
Indonesia Statistics (BPS) recently released its national economic growth report for the second quarter of 2026. As many industry insiders feared, the mining sector's performance has weakened further, locking it into negative territory for the first half of the year. The sector contracted by 1.64 percent in Q2 2026, even as the overall economy expanded by 5.29 percent. This makes mining the sole outlier among the economy's five largest gross domestic product contributors to land in the red.
This outcome aligns with my prior analysis published before the BPS release, in which I projected a contraction between 1 percent and 2 percent. While my estimate proved accurate, I had quietly hoped to be proven wrong.
