Indonesia's newly established commodity export agency, Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI), plans to impose a service fee of a "single-digit" US dollar amount per ton on exports. DSI CEO Luke Mahony said on November 13 that the specific rate will be announced in December, aimed at covering the agency's operational and regulatory costs. A spokesperson later clarified that the rate currently only explicitly applies to palm oil, while the fee for coal and ferro-alloys (which typically include nickel processing products such as ferronickel) has not yet been determined.
DSI is run by Indonesia's sovereign wealth fund Danantara, with the core objective of curbing export "under-invoicing" practices. Indonesian President Prabowo has previously estimated that such resource "leakages" cause the country to lose about US $150 billion annually. The agency will fully take effect in January 2027. By then, the export compliance costs and procedures for Indonesian nickel products (such as ferronickel) will face substantial adjustments. The implementation of specific fee details will have a direct impact on the export pricing and trade flows of Indonesia's nickel industry chain.
