Coal Export Duty Proposed to Apply When Reaching Certain Price Level

The government plans to impose a coal export duty to increase state revenues amid the impact of the Middle East conflict between Iran and Israel, which involves the United States. Chairman of the Indonesian Mining Experts Association (Perhapi) Sudirman Widhy views the plan to implement the coal export duty policy as acceptable, particularly to boost state revenues from export sales amid high price conditions. However, for its application, his side suggests that the export duty policy be implemented with certain criteria. For example, it is set at a certain price level per tonne of coal. “We suggest implementing certain conditions, for example, the application of export duty is set at a certain percentage when the coal selling price is at a certain US/tonne, andatasellingpriceofacertainUS/tonne, the export duty will be eliminated,” Widhy told CNBC Indonesia on Wednesday (25/3/2026). According to him, the application of export duty with certain criteria is necessary to ensure that the policy does not burden the coal mining industry. This is because additional costs from export duty have the potential to pressure profitability and harm companies, which in turn could also impact the decline in non-tax state revenues (PNBP) from the minerals and coal sector. “Because, however, the implementation of export duty will add to the cost burden, and if that additional cost burden makes a negative profit (loss) for the coal mining industry, the impact will also be felt by the state with a decline in PNBP from the minerals and coal sector,” he added. The same sentiment was expressed by Chairman of the Indonesian Mining & Energy Forum (IMEF) Singgih Widagdo. Singgih proposes that if the government still imposes a coal export duty, the policy should be applied at price levels above US$160 per tonne with a tiered scheme (tiered basis). He also reminds that the export duty will only be applied to the export market, so if there is a significant cut in the RKAB coal production, the potential for coal exports will also decline. “Clearly, the analysis of export duty calculations must be placed more on the current mining cost conditions and what level is best as a basis for calculating the export duty,” said Singgih. It should be noted that based on Refinitiv data, the coal price in Tuesday’s trading (24/3/2026) was at the level of US$139.75 per tonne.