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 sets the first October 2026 mineral and coal benchmarks used to calculate Indonesia's statutory sales-price benchmarks, including nickel at USD 16,322.67 per dry metric ton and the main coal benchmark at USD 122.52 per ton.
- Published
- Established by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources on 30 September 2026. The Ministry's official JDIH lists the decision as active and provides the signed text, but records no separate State Gazette promulgation date or online publication date.
- Effective
- 1 October 2026. The decision applies to the first October 2026 benchmark period under the twice-monthly framework and is replaced when the Ministry issues the second-period October benchmark.
- Added to Watch
- 6 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 decision makes its 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 first October period, HMA includes nickel at USD 16,322.67 per dry metric ton, cobalt at USD 41,047.33, aluminium at USD 3,286.67, copper at USD 14,509.87 and gold as a by-product at USD 4,336.11 per troy ounce. The four coal benchmarks are 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. Businesses must use the relevant 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 now 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 should also separate transactions by benchmark period and replace the values when ESDM issues the second October decision under the twice-monthly framework.
Required action
- Identify every covered mineral and coal sale from 1 October in the first October benchmark period, then map the exact commodity, quality, calorific value, moisture, sulphur and other required specifications to the applicable official formula.
- Replace the prior-period HMA or HBA in pricing sheets, sales approvals, invoices, offtake calculations and intercompany or affiliate transaction files before finalising a covered transaction.
- 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.
- Separate first-period October transactions from transactions falling under the Ministry's second October decision, and monitor ESDM JDIH and the Minerba benchmark page for the replacement values.
- Retain Kepmen ESDM 384.K/MB.01/MEM.B/2026, the product-quality evidence, benchmark-price calculation, approvals, payment evidence and commercial documents together for audit and reconciliation.