HPE for most mineral commodities down in March

The export reference price (or better known as HPE) for most mineral commodities subject to export duty for the period of March is down compared to February in line with the price fluctuation in the global market.

The Ministry of Trade said in a statement Tuesday that only the HPE for lead was slightly increased to average level of US$759.34 per wet metric ton (WMT), up 0.55 percent from the level in the previous month. The HPE for ilmenite and titanium concentrates were unchanged.

The HPE for copper concentrate for the period of March was down 4.76 percent to an average of $1,602.04 per WMT, iron ore concentrate (hematite, magnetite, pyrite) declined by 8.02 percent to $45.54 per WMT, iron ore concentrate (gutit and laterit) down by 6.62 percent to $15.77 per WMT, manganese concentrates fell by 3.12 percent to $166.39 per WMT, and zinc concentrates down 5.17 percent to $507.58 per WMT.

The ministry set the monthly HPE based on price information from various sources notably Asian Metal (for HPE of iron ore and manganese concentrates) and from the London Metal Exchange for the other commodities.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak