FLASH: Indonesia's National Economic Council backs nickel RKAB output cut to rebalance global market and support prices

Indonesia's National Economic Council (DEN) has publicly backed the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) in cutting nickel production through the RKAB (Work Plan and Budget) mechanism. DEN member Septian Hario Seto said on Nov. 3 at "Minerba Convex 2026" in Jakarta that rapid growth in Indonesian nickel output has caused global oversupply and a sharp price fall in 2025. He noted that when ESDM announced a cut in RKAB production to 270 million tonnes, nickel prices rose by nearly 20%. Seto stressed that Indonesia should not produce nickel the world does not need, and that RKAB quotas must be calibrated with global nickel demand and smelter requirements, with better synchronization across mining, processing and industry. Earlier, on Nov. 2, Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources and Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition, ordered the Directorate General of Mineral and Coal to immediately implement the nickel RKAB cut to control supply and demand.