Wednesday, 07 October 2026 · Daily Market Intel

Market IntelWed, 07 Oct

Tempe maker Hamdan pays US$0.67 a kilo for soybeans, up a quarter.

Soybean margin · diesel subsidy · 45-day clock

Someone's payday
- Jakarta still eats tempe every day, so why is Hamdan's US$11 daily profit shrinking? — Suara.com
  East Jakarta tempe maker Hamdan pays US$0.67 a kilo for imported soybeans, up from about US$0.53 late last year, with the rupiah near 18,000 to the dollar. His daily profit is US$11, slipping to US$9.50 when sales slow; customers leave if he raises prices.
  Positive-sum angle: Imported soybeans set the price of Indonesia's cheapest protein, so every tempe maker in the country is paying the same bill at once. Local soybean growers, bulk-buying cooperatives and anyone who can lock a three-month forward price now have a margin to sell.
  What's the impact: A Jakarta food founder should treat the city's thousands of home tempe makers as one buyer: pool their soybean orders, hedge the dollar, and deliver the 50-kilo sack below today's US$33 (Rp600,000). Hamdan's margin is US$1.50 a day; the pooled discount is the whole business.
Your costs
- Who pays when Thailand's US$3 billion fuel fund stops holding diesel down US$0.09 a litre? — The Nation
  Thailand's Oil Fuel Fund, the state account that tops up pump prices, went past US$3 billion in debt on 4 October. It trims US$0.06 to US$0.09 off every litre, down from US$0.15 to US$0.18 at the peak, and the Energy Ministry is drafting a gradual withdrawal.
  Positive-sum angle: A subsidy that shrinks on a schedule beats one that snaps. Thai fleet owners, cold-chain operators and the electric-truck sellers courting them all gain from a published glide path; the ministry's three options (deeper refinery discounts, a US$0.06 excise cut, new borrowing) each soften the step.
  What's the impact: A Thai operator pricing contracts past March should quote fuel as a pass-through line, not a fixed cost, and lock diesel forward where a supplier offers it. The gap to close is US$0.06 to US$0.09 (2 to 3 baht) a litre, on every litre, from the day the minister signs.
The tool
- Waiting months on a Thai retailer's invoice? From 2 November the fine is 10% of its revenue — The Nation
  From 2 November Thailand's Trade Competition Commission, the fair-trading regulator, makes buyers with revenue above US$15 million pay SME suppliers within 45 days, 30 for farm produce. A breach costs up to 10% of the buyer's annual revenue, at least US$30,000, plus possible jail.
  Positive-sum angle: A payment clock with a fine behind it turns an SME's receivable into near-cash. Banks and invoice-financing platforms can advance against a 45-day legal maximum instead of a buyer's habit, and the big buyers' own suppliers get paid on time down the chain.
  What's the impact: A Thai supplier should print the rule on every invoice from 2 November and log the date goods were accepted, which starts the clock. The tool nobody has built: a one-click complaint to the commission on day 46, in Thai, with the penalty quoted. It does not exist yet.

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