JAKARTA \u2013 Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday that his government will centralize exports of key commodities, including palm oil and coal, as part of efforts to boost state revenues and \u200btighten the country’s grip over its abundant natural resources.<\/p>\n
Prabowo said in a fiery \u200cspeech to parliament that Indonesia had lost as much as US$908 billion in revenues in the last 34 years because its commodities were being sold on the cheap, adding that key exports like palm oil and coal would \u200bin future be sold via a central government-run enterprise.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, a global commodities powerhouse, is \u200bthe world’s largest exporter of thermal coal and palm oil.<\/p>\n
“Today the Indonesian government \u2060that I lead will issue a regulation on management of commodity exports,” Prabowo said.<\/p>\n
“The issuance \u200bof this regulation is a strategic step to strengthen management of commodity exports,” he said.<\/p>\n
“All sales \u200bof our resources, from palm oil, coal must be through a SOE selected by the government…as sole exporters,” he added.<\/p>\n
The government\u2019s new step marks a dramatic escalation of Jakarta\u2019s push toward tighter control over the country\u2019s vast natural-resource wealth, echoing broader resource-nationalist policies already seen in Indonesia\u2019s nickel and mining sectors.<\/p>\n
Under the draft regulation, exports of strategic commodities \u2014 initially including coal and crude palm oil \u2014 would only be allowed through specially appointed state-owned enterprises, known locally as BUMN. The transition would begin in June 2026 before moving into full implementation in September 2026.<\/p>\n
The government said the move aims to clamp down on chronic underreporting of export values, transfer pricing practices and offshore diversion of export earnings that officials believe have drained billions of dollars from the Southeast Asia\u2019s largest economy.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the world\u2019s largest palm oil exporter and one of the biggest suppliers of thermal coal globally. Any structural change to its export system has immediate implications for commodity traders, refiners, utilities, shipping firms and emerging-market investors.<\/p>\n
The proposal also signals that Prabowo\u2019s administration is willing to deepen state intervention in strategic industries to maximize fiscal revenue and foreign-exchange reserves at a time when global commodity competition is intensifying.<\/p>\n
If fully implemented, the policy could fundamentally alter how international buyers negotiate contracts with Indonesian exporters, shifting bargaining power toward government-linked entities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis regulation is a strategic step to bring order to the governance of our natural resources,\u201d Prabowo said while discussing the planned policy framework, according to government materials reviewed by Investortrust.id.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cSales of our natural resources \u2014 starting with palm oil, coal and iron alloys \u2014 must go through state-owned enterprises appointed by the government,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Prabowo argued the main purpose of the policy was to strengthen oversight and eradicate \u201cunderpayment practices, underinvoicing, transfer pricing and the flight of export foreign-exchange earnings.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis policy will optimize tax revenue and state income from natural-resource management,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The draft regulation states that \u201cstrategic natural-resource commodities\u201d can only be exported by designated state-owned export firms. The initial commodities listed include coal and palm oil, although the government retains authority to expand the list later.<\/p>\n The regulation would give the government broad powers to determine which state-owned enterprises can handle exports and how the export-control mechanism would operate.<\/p>\n The proposed regulation fits into a broader economic strategy pursued by Prabowo\u2019s administration, which has emphasized downstream industrialization, state-led development and tighter control over Indonesia\u2019s resource sector.<\/p>\n Over the past several years, Indonesia has already banned exports of raw nickel ore and pushed miners to process commodities domestically before shipment abroad.<\/p>\n Now the government appears ready to apply a similar philosophy to export governance itself. Prabowo framed the issue as both an economic and nationalist imperative.<\/p>\n \u201cWe must believe that all natural resources belong to all Indonesian people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe every leader with healthy judgment, conscience and love for the country would never allow natural resources to continue being managed without oversight and without control.\u201d<\/p>\n Market participants are expected to closely monitor how aggressively the government enforces the rules and whether exemptions emerge for existing exporters or multinational trading houses. (*)<\/p>\n reuters.com. Indonesia unveils plan to centralise control of commodity exports. https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/asia-pacific\/indonesia-plans-centralise-commodity-exports-through-state-agency-sources-say-2026-05-20\/. May 20, 2026<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JAKARTA \u2013 Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said on Wednesday that his government will centralize exports of key commodities, including palm oil and coal, as part of efforts to boost state revenues and \u200btighten the country’s grip over its abundant natural resources.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30470,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":70,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","neve_meta_reading_time":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3708,3709],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-publication","category-recent-news"],"yoast_head":"\nResource Nationalism<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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