El Niño drought stalls Kapuas River, crippling palm oil shipments and leaving West Kalimantan farmers with rotting fruit

A strong El Niño episode has dried the Kapuas River, Indonesia’s longest waterway, disrupting the primary transport link for West Kalimantan’s palm oil. Sandbanks have grounded barges, and with mill storage tanks near capacity, facilities such as Multi Prima Entakai have rejected fresh fruit bunch deliveries, leaving growers like Supendi with dozens of tonnes of rotting fruit. Truck shipments, while still possible, move far less volume and cost about three times more, driving a sharp drop in mill intake—from 30,000 tons in July to roughly 10,000 tons in September.

Analysts project the province’s contribution to national output could shrink 11-15% in the fourth quarter, prompting GAPKI to cut the 2026 national forecast by 2.9%. Smallholder groups report fertilizer applications cut by up to 70%, and some farmers are resorting to selling homemade cakes and donuts to survive. The rainy season is now expected to start in November, extending the drought and the associated haze that has spread to Malaysia and Singapore.