Indonesia takes on Malaysia in battle over palm oil pricing

AdvertisementIndonesiaThis Week in AsiaEconomicsIndonesia takes on Malaysia in battle over palm oil pricingPalm oil is just the start. Indonesia’s new trade exchange also aims to oversee nickel and coal export volumes, prices and taxes 3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenVincent TanPublished: 8:00am, 24 Aug 2026Updated: 8:10am, 24 Aug 2026Indonesia produces and exports more palm oil than any other country, but when it comes to setting the price, it still plays second fiddle to Malaysia.President Prabowo Subianto wants to change that. On August 14, he announced a new exchange for commodities including palm oil, nickel and coal, targeted to begin operations on January 1.But analysts say dominance in physical supply does not automatically translate into pricing power. Jakarta’s move to set new benchmarks may not be enough to persuade international traders to ditch Bursa Malaysia’s crude palm oil futures contract (FCPO), the industry’s principal reference for pricing and hedging. The new bourse is part of a broader push by Prabowo for greater state oversight of export prices, volumes and revenue. “We do not merely want to be a producer of global commodities. We must become a setter for prices of global commodities,” Prabowo told lawmakers during his annual budget speech before Indonesia’s House of Representatives. The Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange (BMKS) will be supervised by the Financial Services Authority, which said on August 19 that it had appointed Henry Rialdi as deputy commissioner responsible for the exchange’s regulation and oversight. AdvertisementSelect VoiceSelect Speed0.8x0.9x1.0x1.1x1.2x1.5x1.75x00:0000:001.00x