Indonesia to route coal, palm oil exports through state firm from June 2026
Wednesday, May 20 2026 - 02:40 PM WIB
Indonesia will begin routing exports of key natural resource commodities including coal and crude palm oil through a newly established state-owned company from June, as President Prabowo Subianto moves to tighten oversight of commodity exports and boost state revenues.
The policy follows a new government regulation issued by Prabowo requiring exports of strategic commodities to be handled through designated state-owned enterprises acting as sole exporters.
Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Airlangga Hartarto said export documentation for coal, crude palm oil (CPO) and ferro alloys would start being processed through newly-established PT Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia from June 1, before the company takes over the full export process from Sept. 1.
“In the next phase, exports of strategic commodities will be handled by the state-owned export enterprise,” Airlangga told reporters on Wednesday after Prabowo presented the government’s 2027 macroeconomic framework to the House of Representatives.
“This means the entire export transaction process, including contracts, shipping and payments, will be fully managed by Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia,” he said.
The government said the policy is aimed at strengthening supervision of commodity exports, improving monitoring of export foreign exchange earnings and combating practices such as trade misinvoicing and transfer pricing.
Read also: Prabowo issues regulation appointing SOEs as sole exporters of key commodities
Prabowo said earlier on Wednesday the regulation was intended to prevent under-invoicing, transfer pricing and the outflow of export proceeds overseas, while increasing state revenues from Indonesia’s natural resources sector.
“The primary goal of this policy is to strengthen supervision and monitoring,” Prabowo told lawmakers during a parliamentary plenary session.
Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of thermal coal and palm oil, making the new export governance mechanism potentially significant for global commodity markets.
Industry groups, however, urged the government to implement the policy carefully to avoid disrupting long-term commercial arrangements and investor confidence.
IMA urges caution
Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) said it supported stronger governance of mineral and coal exports but stressed the need to maintain legal certainty and a competitive investment climate.
“Implementation must continue to consider business certainty, the sustainability of long-term contracts, and a competitive investment climate so that Indonesia’s mining industry remains trusted and able to grow sustainably,” IMA Executive Director Sari Esayanti said in a statement.
Many mining companies have long-term sales agreements and financing structures that were established years in advance, she added.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak