Indonesia to roll out single-gateway commodity export system from Sept. 1

Indonesia will fully implement a single-gateway export system for strategic natural resource commodities from Sept. 1, four months ahead of schedule, President Prabowo Subianto said on Monday, as the government seeks to tighten oversight of exports, boost foreign exchange earnings and crack down on trade fraud.

The system, which was previously scheduled for full implementation on Jan. 1, 2027, is being introduced through state-owned PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI), a subsidiary of Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia. DSI was established on May 20 and began operations on July 1 to oversee exports of strategic commodities including coal, crude palm oil and ferroalloys.

"We are building a single-gateway export system so the state knows how much is being exported, who the buyers are, the actual selling price and how much export foreign exchange should return to Indonesia," Prabowo told a cabinet meeting.

The president said the policy was currently in a transition phase and was expected to be fully implemented on Sept. 1.

Prabowo said the initiative was designed to improve governance of commodity exports and eliminate practices such as under-invoicing and transfer pricing, which he said had caused Indonesia to lose substantial export revenue.

He cited crude palm oil (CPO) exports as an example, saying contracts were sometimes declared at Rp14,000-Rp17,000 ($0.85-$1.03) per kilogram in Indonesia, while buyers in Europe ultimately paid around Rp27,000 per kilogram.

"Who enjoys the difference? We lose nearly 50% of our wealth in a single shipment," Prabowo said, adding that the government would revoke the licences of exporters found violating the rules.

Prabowo also said DSI had managed more than $10.5 billion in export foreign exchange proceeds during its first six weeks of operation.

According to the president, the gap between declared Indonesian export prices and international prices, which previously ranged from about 30% to 45%, had narrowed significantly since DSI began operating because of stricter enforcement.

Indonesia has in recent years tightened rules governing export proceeds from natural resources as part of broader efforts to strengthen the rupiah, improve tax collection and increase domestic foreign exchange liquidity.

The latest measure further centralises oversight of exports by requiring strategic commodity shipments to pass through a single state-controlled gateway, allowing authorities to better monitor export volumes, buyers, pricing and the repatriation of export earnings.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak