Agriculture & food
Indonesian natural rubber
Indonesian natural rubber is sold as SIR, Standard Indonesian Rubber, a national standard that classifies technically specified rubber by measured properties. The grade number is the maximum dirt content in hundredths of a percent, so SIR 20 permits 0.20 per cent and SIR 10 permits half of that.
How it leaves the country.
- Technically specified rubber
- Block rubber pressed into bales, the form almost all Indonesian export takes. Graded under SIR and bought by tyre and component manufacturers.1
- Ribbed smoked sheet
- The older sheet form, graded by eye instead of by laboratory test. A smaller trade with a different buyer.
- Concentrated latex
- Liquid latex concentrated by centrifuge, for dipped goods. A separate product with its own handling and its own shelf life.
How it is graded.
SIR grades are set by Indonesian national standard SNI 06-1903, which specifies each grade by measured property. Reading the number correctly is most of what a buyer needs.
- The number is the dirt limit
- SIR 20 allows up to 0.20 per cent dirt, SIR 10 up to 0.10, SIR 5 up to 0.05. Measured on material retained by a sieve, and the single most quoted line of the standard.1
- SIR 20 is the volume grade
- Made from field coagulum and bought in quantity by tyre manufacturers. Most Indonesian export tonnage is this grade, and it is the sensible default unless your process says otherwise.
- Light grades come from latex
- SIR 3L and the constant viscosity grades are produced from fresh latex instead of field coagulum, which is why they are cleaner and dearer.1
- Dirt is not the only limit
- The standard also sets ash, volatile matter, nitrogen, plasticity retention index and Mooney viscosity per grade. Write the properties your process cares about into the contract instead of relying on the grade name alone.1
How it is packed.
- Bales in pallets or crates
- Blocks wrapped in polythene, stacked into a metal crate or a shrink-wrapped pallet. The wrapping is chosen to melt into the compound during mixing.
- Container loading
- A container reaches its weight limit long before it looks full. Plan the order in tonnes.
- Heat and storage
- Bales soften and slump in a hot container and can consolidate into a single mass. Stowage and voyage length belong in the conversation, particularly on long routes.
Where it grows.
South Sumatra
Sumatra
The largest producing province, with Palembang as the collection and processing centre.
Jambi
Sumatra
Extensive smallholder planting feeding crumb rubber factories along the same river system.
North Sumatra
Sumatra
Estate production alongside smallholders, exporting through Belawan.
West Kalimantan
Borneo
A substantial smallholder producing area shipping through Pontianak.
Who buys this.
Choosing between this and something else.
Documentation, where applicable.
- Certificate of analysis
- The SIR property test results for the shipped lot. Ask for the full property set rather than the grade name.1
- EUDR due diligence statement
- Rubber is one of the seven commodities inside the regulation, which is a significant change for a crop grown largely by smallholders.2
- Certificate of origin
- Which form applies depends on the destination and the preference scheme in force with Indonesia.
- Packing list
- Bale counts and net weights per crate, which is what the receiving factory checks against.
Questions buyers ask.
Is SIR 5 better than SIR 20?
It is cleaner, which is a different claim. The number is a dirt limit, so SIR 5 permits a quarter of the dirt SIR 20 does and costs accordingly. Whether that matters depends entirely on what you are making. Most tyre compounding runs on SIR 20 by design, and paying for a light grade there buys nothing.
Does the EU deforestation regulation apply to rubber?
Yes, rubber is one of the seven commodities named. It is a harder requirement here than for estate crops because most Indonesian rubber comes from smallholdings, so the geolocation data has to be gathered from a great many small plots rather than a handful of large ones. Ask early how your supplier is collecting it.
What should I write into the specification?
The grade, and then the properties your process actually turns on, usually Mooney viscosity and plasticity retention index. The grade name alone leaves a wide band on the properties that decide how the material behaves in mixing.
What does your service cost?
Five 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.
Worth reading.
Tell us what you need.
Give us the specification and the destination port. We come back with producer options and an indicative price. Our fee is 5 % of the order value, paid by you and never by the factory.
Sources
- 1Indonesian National Standards (SNI). Badan Standardisasi Nasional, Republic of Indonesia. Checked 3 August 2026.
- 2Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, consolidated text. EUR-Lex. Checked 3 August 2026.