Prabowo Targets Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange to Operate on January 1, 2027

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (Antara)

JAKARTA - President Prabowo Subianto targets the Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange to start operating on January 1, 2027.

"Therefore, the government that I lead will immediately operationalize the Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange under the supervision of the Financial Services Authority on January 1, 2027," he said in the Government's Introduction/Explanation of the State Budget Law for Fiscal Year 2027 along with the Financial Note and Supporting Documents, Friday, August 14.

To accelerate the realization of the plan, Prabowo asked for the support of the House of Representatives in discussing the provisions for the establishment of the exchange and the government targets that the rules related to the exchange can be issued no later than September 17, 2026.

"We target, the provisions for the implementation of the Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange will soon be discussed with the DPR RI and will be published no later than September 17, 2026," he said.

According to him, the existence of the exchange is important so that Indonesia has a more transparent commodity trading mechanism and is able to form its own reference prices.

He added that for decades, Indonesia has been known as one of the world's largest producers of various strategic commodities, ranging from palm oil, nickel, tin, coal, coffee to rubber, however, the prices of these commodities have so far been determined by market mechanisms abroad.

Prabowo assessed that the condition was not ideal because Indonesia as the owner and producer of commodities did not have a strong control in the formation of prices.

"Those who don't have these commodities, their time determines how much the commodity costs. This doesn't make sense. I don't understand where this economic science is taught. The book has goods, other people determine the price," he said.

However, Prabowo emphasized that the government still understands and respects the market mechanism, therefore, the formation of the Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange is not intended to ignore the market mechanism, but to build a stronger, open, and credible trading system.

Through the exchange, he added that the government targets Indonesia to have an Indonesian Reference Price, which is the national reference price for various main commodities that are the mainstay of exports.

Prabowo explained that this exchange will later be directed to become a deep, transparent, liquid commodity market, and have credibility at the global level.

He added that through one supervised system, producers, farmers, exporters, buyers, and investors can meet and conduct transactions with the support of more open data.

Prabowo said that with this system, it is also hoped that it can minimize the possibility of manipulation in commodity trading, so that with better transaction transparency, market participants are expected to have access to clearer price and trading information.

"We want to build a market that is deep, transparent, liquid, and trusted by the world. Producers, farmers, exporters, buyers, and investors will meet in a supervised system, with clearer transaction data and increasingly narrow manipulation space," he said.

According to Prabowo, the establishment of the Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange is a strategic step to change Indonesia's position in the world commodity trade chain, so that Indonesia is not only expected to be a commodity producing country, but also has a role in determining prices in the global market.

"Indonesia must not forever be a country where commodities are dug up, but their prices and profits are determined in other countries. We don't just want to be a producer of world commodities. We must be the determinant of world commodity prices," he said.