Sarjito, the candidate for Chief Executive of the Mineral and Strategic Commodity Exchange (BMKS) supervisory body at the Financial Services Authority (OJK), has stated that despite Indonesia being the world's largest nickel producer, accounting for 67% of global output--far ahead of the Philippines (7%) and Russia (5%)--prices are still determined by overseas exchanges such as the London Metal Exchange and the Shanghai Futures Exchange. He emphasised that establishing a domestic mineral exchange is crucial for strengthening Indonesia's role in price discovery and developing an "Indonesia Reference Price."
Sarjito noted that Indonesia's mineral and commodity data remains scattered across various institutions, while the trading ecosystem remains fragmented, with risks including under-invoicing, transfer pricing and foreign exchange leakage. He proposed eight strategic pillars to address these challenges: trusted infrastructure, trusted market, trusted players, trusted products, trusted data, trusted regulator, trusted ecosystem and trusted price. The exchange is targeted to begin full operations on 1 January 2027.
