Guide

How to import from Indonesia.

Six steps, and the order of them matters more than the detail. Most of what goes wrong on an Indonesian import was decided before anyone quoted a price, in a specification that was too loose or a document nobody checked against the destination.

The six steps.

01
Write the specification before you ask for a price
Product, grade, quantity, packing and destination port. Every quotation you receive without those is a guess, and comparing guesses is how buyers pick the wrong supplier. The reference pages here exist so you can write the specification without knowing the trade first.
02
Find producers, then reduce the list
Indonesia has no shortage of companies willing to quote. The work is separating the ones who make the goods from the ones who will buy them from someone else and add a margin. Registration checks do part of it and a visit does the rest.
03
Settle the documents against your destination
This is where orders die. What a shipment needs depends on the product, the producer and the market it is going to, and some of it has to exist before production starts rather than being collected at the end.
04
Agree the Incoterm and who carries what
Almost every Indonesian quotation says FOB. For a container that is the wrong rule and it leaves a window where the seller carries risk they cannot control. Decide this before you agree a price, because it changes what the price means.
05
Inspect before it loads, not after it lands
A pre-shipment inspection costs a fraction of a container and is the only point where a problem is still cheap. Once the box is sealed your options are argument and insurance.
06
Ship, clear and pay against documents
The paperwork that travels with the goods is what releases them at the other end. Payment terms that release money against documents rather than against promises protect both sides on a first order.

Read the detail.

Every figure on the pages below carries its source and the date we last checked it. Where a figure could not be checked against a primary source, the page leaves it out.

Agriculture & food

Issued in Indonesia

Required by the European Union

Trade documents

Voluntary schemes

Questions buyers ask.

Do I need to fly to Indonesia?

Somebody does. Whether it is you, an inspection company or an agent working for you, the questions that decide an order are answered inside the building. What you do not have to do is fly out for every order, or for the first conversation.

What is the smallest sensible first order?

Large enough that a producer takes it seriously and small enough that a mistake is survivable. In practice that usually means one container of something you can sell rather than a mixed trial of six things you cannot.

How do I pay without losing the deposit?

Use an instrument that releases money against documents rather than against a promise. Your bank will explain the options in an afternoon, and on a first order with a new supplier the cost of one is far below what it protects.

What does your service cost?

5 per cent of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory. A factory audit starts at $250 depending on location. We work with orders from $10,000 per shipment.

Tell us what you need.

A line is enough to start. We come back with producer options and an indicative price.

The six steps.

Write the specification before you ask for a price

Find producers, then reduce the list

Settle the documents against your destination

Agree the Incoterm and who carries what

Inspect before it loads, not after it lands

Ship, clear and pay against documents