Bahlil to Increase Nickel Reference Price
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia will increase the reference mineral price or HPM for nickel commodities. He conveyed this step after a meeting with President Prabowo Subianto.
According to Bahlil, raising the nickel HPM is a way to increase state revenues from the mineral sector, as directly requested by President Prabowo Subianto. “Most likely, I will raise the HPM for nickel,” Bahlil stated in a written remark on Thursday, 26 March 2026.
The General Chairman of the Golkar Party said that increasing the nickel reference mineral price is part of efforts to prioritise the state’s interests regarding Indonesia’s natural resources. Prabowo, Bahlil noted, emphasised that natural resources are truly state assets, even though their management is carried out by private companies or state-owned enterprises.
Prabowo instructed Bahlil to prioritise the state’s interests above all else in safeguarding Indonesia’s natural resources. “Our natural resources are state assets, and therefore the President has ordered us to seek sources of revenue in the mineral sector that have so far been unfair to the state,” Bahlil said.
On that occasion, Bahlil stated that the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has several targets to be implemented in 2026. Among them are targets related to downstreaming and coal production targets.
“We want the ideal situation where prices are good and production is high. But if not, our goods should not be sold cheaply, and supply should remain within good corridors,” Bahlil remarked.
In addition to downstreaming, Bahlil also discussed the development of alternative energy to achieve energy self-sufficiency. According to Bahlil, President Prabowo has directed that all domestic energy potentials, including ethanol and biodiesel based on crude palm oil (CPO), be utilised for new and renewable energy.
“The President has ordered us to optimise all existing energy potentials, whether ethanol, biodiesel from CPO, including how we promote energy transition through new renewable energy that we can carry out,” Bahlil stated.