Academia
Workers unload fresh fruit bunches (FFB) from an open-back truck at a collector in Palangka Raya, Central Kalimantan, on Oct. 29, 2025. (Antara/Auliya Rahman)
The country is seeking to move from being a major commodity producer and global price taker to becoming a price maker through the planned Indonesian Commodity Exchange (Icomex). Yet a similar platform, the Indonesia Commodity & Derivatives Exchange (ICDX), has operated for nearly two decades without gaining significant influence over global markets.Against this backdrop, questions remain over how the two exchanges will coexist and whether Icomex can attract sufficient trading volume and market participation to establish credible reference prices that can challenge established international benchmarks.
Icomex is slated to begin operating on Jan. 1, 2027, with the aim of establishing an Indonesia Reference Price for major commodities such as crude palm oil (CPO), nickel, tin and coal. President Prabowo Subianto has argued that Indonesia, despite being a major global producer of several commodities, should not remain dependent on overseas exchanges for price benchmarks. Supervised by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), the exchange is expected to deepen domestic markets, improve price transparency and strengthen governance, while helping curb practices such as transfer pricing and under-invoicing.
