Choosing a palm oil Indonesia company to buy from, partner with or serve starts with knowing which part of the chain each group controls. Some own plantations and mills, some run the refineries and export tanks at the ports, and the largest do both. This guide profiles nine groups that matter in 2026, using each company’s own latest published figures, and shows which of them operate in North Sumatra, around Belawan Port and Kuala Tanjung.

It closes with the checks we would run before signing a supply or service contract, and with where SIIPE‘s planned estate fits for processors.

Last updated: 28 October 2026

Palm Oil Indonesia Company Numbers: 2,286 Large Plantation Firms

Indonesia’s palm oil business is not a handful of conglomerates. It is a long tail of plantation companies with a small group of integrated players at the top, and the official count shows how long that tail is.

The 2025 Oil Palm Plantation Company Survey by BPS counted 2,286 large oil palm plantation companies across 29 provinces. Of these, 2,136 (93.44%) are private and 150 are state-owned. Sumatra hosts 1,232 of them, and North Sumatra has 327, second only to West Kalimantan’s 353. Large estates covered about 9.22 million hectares in 2024, by BPS’s separate area table, and smallholder plantations come on top of that figure.

The tonnage then funnels into refineries and port terminals. GAPKI puts 2025 crude palm oil production at 51.66 million tonnes and exports at 32.34 million tonnes, worth US$35.87 billion. Every exported tonne passes through a port tank farm, which is why the refining and terminal end of the industry matters as much as the planted hectares.

The groups in this guide fall into four types:

The Largest Growers by Land Bank and Output

Size in palm oil can mean land managed, hectares planted or tonnes produced, and companies report different measures at different dates. The table below keeps each figure in the company’s own terms.

Agrinas is the newcomer at the top. According to President Director Mohammad Abdul Ghani, Agrinas Palma Nusantara manages about 4.11 million hectares, up from about 1.7 million hectares during 2025, much of it plantation land assigned to the company by the government. Only around 730,000 hectares of that is planted estate, so its land bank and its producing area are very different numbers.

PTPN IV PalmCo is the established state producer. Its President Director, Jatmiko Santosa, reported 2.70 million tonnes of CPO for 2025, up 7.87%, and a net profit of Rp7.08 trillion.

Among private groups, Golden Agri-Resources reports the largest planted area in this table. Wilmar is smaller as a planter but sold 12.59 million tonnes of tropical oils in the first half of 2025 alone, which tells you where its weight sits: in refining and trading, not in hectares.

If you are sourcing CPO in North Sumatra or planning processing capacity close to these suppliers, our estate team can talk you through plots for crude palm oil and plantation processing at the planned estate. Message the SIIPE estate team on WhatsApp.

Palm Oil Companies With a North Sumatra Footprint

North Sumatra is where the Indonesian palm oil industry began, and several groups still run their refining, research or head-office functions there. The profiles below list only what each company or a named public record states.

Musim Mas

Musim Mas began in Medan in 1932 as the Nam Cheong Soap Factory and started refining palm oil in 1970. Its own history page lists a refinery in Belawan, Medan, an oleochemicals plant in Medan and a plantation at Rantau Prapat, North Sumatra. ITOCHU, the Japanese trading house, publishes a supplier refinery list based on 2022 purchases that gives the Belawan refinery’s address inside the Belawan port area. The group is now headquartered in Singapore and reports 42,000 employees in 14 countries.

Wilmar International

Wilmar’s 2024 RSPO progress report names North Sumatra among the Indonesian provinces where its estates sit, and lists the Kuala Tanjung operation of its subsidiary PT Multimas Nabati Asahan among its palm oil processing sites. Wilmar’s 2018 refinery traceability list identifies Kuala Tanjung as a refinery and names a second refinery of the same subsidiary at Paya Pasir.

PTPN IV PalmCo

The state palm oil company has its head office in Medan, on Jalan Letjend Suprapto. TÜV Rheinland’s September 2026 list of RSPO supply chain certificates includes a palm kernel oil unit of its Regional I division at Sei Mangkei.

Permata Hijau Group

Founded in 1984, Permata Hijau is profiled by Dialogue Earth with a refinery in Medan and a product range covering cooking oil, specialty fats, oleochemicals and biodiesel. Its kernel crushing plant in Medan, run by PT Permata Hijau Palm Oleo, holds an RSPO supply chain certificate valid to June 2029.

Asian Agri

Founded in 1979, Asian Agri runs plantations in North Sumatra, Riau and Jambi and partners with more than 30,000 smallholders. Its research and development centre has operated at Tebing Tinggi, North Sumatra, since 1989.

London Sumatra

Lonsum traces its first plantation to 1906, near Medan, and runs the SumBio research centre at Bah Lias, North Sumatra. It has been part of the Indofood group, through Indofood Agri Resources, since 2007, and operates 12 palm oil mills with 2.7 million tonnes of annual fresh fruit bunch capacity.

Socfindo

Socfin’s history in Indonesia starts in 1909, with the first oil palms planted in 1911 at Sungai Liput, Aceh. PT Socfin Indonesia was formed in 1968 and operates in North Sumatra and Aceh. Its seed business has distributed more than 600 million oil palm seeds worldwide.

Agrinas and Golden Agri-Resources are left out of this section because neither publishes a North Sumatra breakdown we could verify.

Why Refiners Cluster at Belawan and Kuala Tanjung

Mills have to sit near the plantations, because fresh fruit bunches must be processed soon after harvest, before their free fatty acid content rises. Refineries, kernel crushers and export tanks are placed by a different rule: they sit where liquid bulk can be pumped to a ship.

That is the pattern in North Sumatra. Pelindo Multi Terminal’s Belawan branch reported in March 2025 that its liquid bulk terminal handles 3.5 to 4 million tonnes of CPO exports a year, mainly to China and Japan, against a stated capacity of up to 6 million tonnes. Musim Mas refines inside the Belawan port area, and Wilmar’s North Sumatra refinery sits at Kuala Tanjung, the deep-water port further down the coast. Our guide to crude palm oil Indonesia covers what the oil has to go through between mill tank and ship, from heating to transfer losses.

When a refiner asks us about a plot, the first questions are rarely about hectares. They are about the pipe run to the jetty, the footprint of the tank farm, and whether certified and conventional streams can be kept apart through storage and loading. Each extra truck leg between refinery and berth adds cost and one more custody transfer, which is the argument our palm oil supply chain article works through stage by stage.

How to Check a Palm Oil Supplier or Partner

A palm oil Indonesia company on a list is a starting point, not a counterparty. Before you sign an offtake, toll-refining or terminal agreement, run five checks:

1. Confirm the legal entity. Large groups trade through many PTs, such as PT Multimas Nabati Asahan inside Wilmar. Check which entity signs, and its business identification number (NIB) on the OSS system.
2. Check ISPO status. ISPO is mandatory for plantation businesses under Presidential Regulation No. 16 of 2025, and from 19 March 2027 it also covers the downstream palm oil industry and bioenergy producers.
3. Check RSPO certification and the supply chain model. Identity Preserved and Segregated oil travel with their sourcing data; Mass Balance oil is mixed. Our guide to sustainable palm oil Indonesia compares ISPO, RSPO and the EUDR in detail.
4. Test EUDR readiness if any volume goes to Europe. From 30 December 2026, large and medium operators placing palm oil on the EU market need plot geolocation for every supplying plantation.
5. Map the physical route. Ask which refinery, which tank farm and which berth the oil moves through, and how far apart they are. Distance is where both cost and traceability break down.

Where SIIPE Fits for Palm Oil Processors

SIIPE (Sumalacca Integrated Industrial and Port Estate) is a planned 5,600-hectare development in Medan Belawan, North Sumatra, of which around 840 hectares has been acquired. Its current development phase covers 3,000 hectares: 1,800 for the industrial estate, 400 for a deep seaport and 800 for a residential township.

Crude palm oil and plantation processing is the first of the estate’s five target sectors. Processing and refining plots are designed to sit under 5 km from the planned Sumalacca Dry & Liquid Bulk Port, and the site is 4.7 km, about 10 minutes, from Belawan Port. The port basin depth is -8 to -10 m LWS. The port, jetty and chemical storage tanks are planned and not operational today.

Naming a company in this guide does not imply any commercial relationship with SIIPE.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the largest palm oil company in Indonesia?

By land, it is state-owned PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara, which says it manages about 4.11 million hectares of state plantation assets, including around 730,000 hectares of planted oil palm, as of July 2026. Among private groups, Golden Agri-Resources reported 531,000 planted hectares including plasma at the end of 2025.

How many palm oil companies are there in Indonesia?

BPS counted 2,286 large oil palm plantation companies across 29 provinces in its 2025 survey: 2,136 private and 150 state-owned. That count excludes smallholders and businesses that only refine, crush kernels or trade, so the total number of palm oil companies in Indonesia is higher.

Which palm oil companies operate in North Sumatra?

Groups with verified North Sumatra operations include Musim Mas, with a Belawan refinery and a Medan oleochemicals plant, Wilmar at Kuala Tanjung, PTPN IV PalmCo, headquartered in Medan, Permata Hijau, Asian Agri, London Sumatra and Socfindo. BPS counted 327 large plantation companies in the province in 2025.

Is Wilmar an Indonesian company?

Wilmar International is listed in Singapore, but much of its palm oil business runs through Indonesian subsidiaries such as PT Multimas Nabati Asahan, which operates the Kuala Tanjung refinery. Wilmar reported 149,154 hectares of planted area in Indonesia at 30 June 2025, more than half of its global planted area.

Do palm oil companies in Indonesia need ISPO certification?

Yes. ISPO is mandatory for oil palm plantation businesses under Presidential Regulation No. 16 of 2025. From 19 March 2027 it also applies to the downstream palm oil industry and bioenergy producers, and smallholders must be certified by 19 March 2029. RSPO remains voluntary, though many multinational buyers require it.

Contact the SIIPE Estate Team

If you are a refiner, kernel crusher, oleochemical producer or terminal operator weighing North Sumatra, talk to us before you commit to a site. SIIPE is a planned 5,600-hectare estate 4.7 km from Belawan Port, with around 840 hectares acquired and processing plots designed to sit under 5 km from the planned Sumalacca port. We welcome 100% foreign investment, although eligibility depends on your sector under Indonesia’s Positive Investment List.

Review the five target sectors on our industrial estate page, then send your sector and land requirement, from under 5 Ha to above 50 Ha, and we will reply with availability and indicative terms. You can also reach the estate team on WhatsApp at +62 811 860 980 or at info@siipe-port.com.