Indonesia to centralise key commodity exports

On May 20, 2026 President Prabowo Subianto told Indonesia’s parliament that the government will issue a regulation to centralise exports of key natural‑resource commodities. He said future sales of resources such as palm oil and coal will be channelled through state‑owned enterprises appointed by the government to act as sole exporters.

Bloomberg reported that the policy would begin with palm oil, coal and ferroalloys. Under the plan, sales of these commodities would be required to be conducted through a government‑appointed state company that would serve as the exclusive exporter.

Prabowo framed the initiative as a fiscal and governance measure aimed at protecting Indonesia’s resource revenues. He said the country had lost as much as US$908 billion over the past 34 years because its commodities had been sold "on the cheap."

According to his remarks, the policy’s objective is to strengthen supervision and monitoring of commodity exports. The government aims to eradicate practices such as underpayment, under‑invoicing, transfer pricing and capital flight of export earnings by routing exports through designated state‑owned enterprises.

Reports noted that the regulations required to operationalise the centralised export plan had not yet been finalised when Prabowo made his announcement to parliament. Authorities and market participants were described as waiting for the formal regulation and detailed implementation rules.

The timing and specific mechanisms for how state‑owned enterprises will assume the role of sole exporters were not set out in detail in the reports. The information available focused on the policy direction and the commodities expected to be covered in the initial phase.

The announcement and earlier rumours surrounding the export centralisation plan unsettled Indonesian financial markets. Jakarta’s main stock index (JKSE) fell about 3.5% on May 19 amid concern about the proposal, according to reports.

The decline continued on May 20, with reports saying the index was down close to 2% for the day. Intraday reporting also indicated the JKSE was trading roughly 1.5% lower shortly before midday on May 20 as investors reacted to the emerging details of the policy.

Market coverage linked the sell‑off to fears over tighter state control of major export sectors and the potential impact on companies involved in palm oil, coal and related commodity trades. Observers were said to be awaiting the final regulation to gauge the full implications.

Indonesia is a significant exporter of commodities such as palm oil and coal, and the planned shift to centralised export channels via state‑owned enterprises represents a major change in how those trades are conducted. Bloomberg described the move as an experiment that could alter established commodity flows.

While the government has emphasised revenue protection and the fight against leakages in export earnings, the reports highlighted that full market and trade impacts will depend on how the forthcoming regulations define the roles of state‑owned exporters and private sector participants.