Regulation Watch · Tax Compliance · Indonesia, for domestic and export sales of covered metal minerals and coal by Indonesian mining licence holders, producers, processors, traders and related PT PMA and PT PMDN businesses.
October Mineral and Coal Benchmarks Reset Sales Pricing
Kepmen ESDM 384.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 set the first October 2026 mineral and coal benchmarks, and Kepmen ESDM 401.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 now replaces them for the second October period, including nickel at USD 15,847.67 per dry metric ton and the main coal benchmark at USD 126.81 per ton.
- Published
- Kepmen ESDM 384.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 was established on 30 September 2026. Kepmen ESDM 401.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 was established on 14 October 2026. The Ministry's official JDIH lists both decisions as active and provides their official texts, but records no separate State Gazette promulgation date or online publication date.
- Effective
- Kepmen ESDM 384.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 applied from 1 October 2026 for the first October benchmark period. Kepmen ESDM 401.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 applies for the second October benchmark period from 15 October 2026 under the twice-monthly framework.
- Added to Watch
- 6 October 2026
- Updated
- 21 October 2026
Who is affected
Indonesian holders of mining business licences and other authorised mineral or coal producers and sellers, including PT PMA and PT PMDN companies; foreign and domestic shareholders; directors; mineral processors and smelters; coal producers; traders and offtakers; and commercial, finance, tax, royalty, customs, logistics and compliance teams responsible for covered sales.
Practical impact
The decisions make their Harga Mineral Logam Acuan (HMA) and Harga Batubara Acuan (HBA) the bases for calculating the applicable metal-mineral and coal benchmark selling prices. For the second October period, HMA includes nickel at USD 15,847.67 per dry metric ton, cobalt at USD 38,938.30, lead at USD 1,864.03, zinc at USD 3,902.07, aluminium at USD 3,172.93 and copper at USD 14,578.73. The four second-period coal benchmarks are USD 126.81 per ton at 6,322 kcal/kg GAR, USD 93.62 at 5,300 GAR, USD 66.10 at 4,100 GAR and USD 54.53 at 3,400 GAR. Businesses must use the relevant period, specification and statutory formula when setting transaction prices and preparing royalty or other non-tax state-revenue calculations; the headline values are not interchangeable across products or grades.
The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources established Kepmen ESDM 384.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 on 30 September 2026 and made it effective on 1 October. The decision sets the Harga Mineral Logam Acuan and Harga Batubara Acuan for the first October benchmark period. ESDM JDIH lists the decision as active and supplies the signed text, but identifies no separate State Gazette promulgation date.
The HMA schedule includes nickel at USD 16,322.67 per dry metric ton, cobalt at USD 41,047.33, lead at USD 1,870.50, zinc at USD 4,023.20, aluminium at USD 3,286.67, copper at USD 14,509.87, manganese at USD 3.93, laterite, hematite and magnetite iron ore at USD 1.45, chrome ore at USD 6.37 and titanium concentrate at USD 8.78. Gold and silver produced as by-products are USD 4,336.11 and USD 64.97 per troy ounce respectively, while tin ingots use the relevant ICDX or JFX settlement price on the sale day.
For coal, the decision sets four HBA values: USD 122.52 per ton at 6,322 kcal/kg GAR, USD 90.60 at 5,300 GAR, USD 63.45 at 4,100 GAR and USD 43.84 at 3,400 GAR. The correct category depends on the contractual and tested coal quality. A producer should not substitute the headline 6,322 GAR value for a lower-calorific-value product or carry forward a prior benchmark period.
These are regulatory pricing inputs, not merely market information. The decision states that HMA is the basis for calculating the relevant metal-mineral benchmark price and HBA is the basis for calculating the coal benchmark price. The final statutory calculation still requires the applicable formula and product adjustments, and it feeds sales-price compliance, royalty or other PNBP calculations, invoicing and transaction support.
Mining companies should reconcile each covered first-period October sale across its contract, product-quality evidence, benchmark calculation, invoice, shipping or customs documents and royalty or PNBP working paper. They must separate transactions by benchmark period and retain the first-period decision for sales dated 1 to 14 October.
Material update, 21 October 2026: the Minister established Kepmen ESDM 401.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 on 14 October for the second October benchmark period. ESDM JDIH lists the decision as active and provides its official text, with no separate State Gazette promulgation date recorded. The second-period HMA includes nickel at USD 15,847.67 per dry metric ton, cobalt at USD 38,938.30, lead at USD 1,864.03, zinc at USD 3,902.07, aluminium at USD 3,172.93 and copper at USD 14,578.73.
The second-period coal benchmarks are USD 126.81 per ton at 6,322 kcal/kg GAR, USD 93.62 at 5,300 GAR, USD 66.10 at 4,100 GAR and USD 54.53 at 3,400 GAR. Companies should replace first-period values for transactions from 15 October, recheck any second-period sale already priced or recorded, and keep both decisions with the supporting quality, pricing, invoice and PNBP files.
Required action
- Separate covered mineral and coal sales dated 1 to 14 October from sales dated from 15 October, then map the exact commodity, quality, calorific value, moisture, sulphur and other required specifications to the applicable official formula.
- Replace the first-period HMA or HBA with the Kepmen ESDM 401.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 values in pricing sheets, sales approvals, invoices, offtake calculations and intercompany or affiliate transaction files for second-period transactions.
- Recalculate the applicable Harga Patokan Mineral Logam or Harga Patokan Batubara and the related royalty or other PNBP exposure, rather than treating the published HMA or HBA as the final invoice price without the prescribed adjustments.
- Align the contract, sales invoice, survey or quality certificate, shipping document, customs declaration and royalty or PNBP working paper to the same product specification, quantity, sale date and benchmark period.
- Recheck second-period transactions already priced or recorded from 15 October and correct any file that carried forward a Kepmen ESDM 384.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026 value.
- Retain both October decisions, the product-quality evidence, benchmark-price calculation, approvals, payment evidence and commercial documents together for audit and reconciliation.