NTT had three reported seaweed plants in 2018, sources say

Labuan Bajo — East Nusa Tenggara already had three seaweed-processing plants in Kupang, East Sumba and Sabu Raijua in 2018, according to a report cited by The Jakarta Post from Indonesia’s state news agency. Provincial fisheries official Ganef Wurgiyanto made the remarks in Kupang on Sept. 11, 2018, the report said.

The plants were said to process edible seaweed into chips, which were then dried and packaged for sale. The report also said the province had about 51,000 hectares of seaweed-growing area with strong sunlight and rainfall conditions that support cultivation.

Independent academic work published later also described three processing plants operating in NTT, with processor locations in Kupang, Semau Island and Sumba Island, and identified one producer in East Sumba as operational. A separate official provincial media report from 2026 said seaweed production centers in NTT are spread across Kupang, Rote Ndao, Sabu Raijua, Alor, East Flores, Lembata, East Sumba and other districts, underscoring the broader regional base for the industry.

Seaweed industry background

The 2018 remarks were presented as an invitation for investors to develop seaweed processing in the province, with the goal of keeping more of the value chain inside NTT. The report attributed to the provincial agency said processing capacity would help improve product quality and strengthen market access for local producers.

By 2023, a review article noted that NTT had seaweed cultivation clusters across the province and said processing plants had been established in four of the five clusters described by researchers. The review also cited NTT’s estimated seaweed cultivation area at about 54,000 hectares.

For coastal communities, the significance of the plants lies in local processing rather than shipping raw seaweed out of the province. The 2018 report said the facilities used Eucheuma cottonii as raw material and produced chips as an intermediate product for the market.

Later industry and academic sources show that NTT remained one of Indonesia’s main seaweed-producing regions, but the exact ownership, capacity and current status of the three plants named in the 2018 report were not detailed in the material reviewed.

Reported locations

• Kupang — one of the three reported processing sites.
• East Sumba — one of the three reported processing sites, also known as Sumba Timur.
• Sabu Raijua — one of the three reported processing sites.

Sources

• The Jakarta Post
• Evidence from the Eastern Indonesian seaweed industry
• RRI
• Bioflux review article