Danantara: PT DSI to Buy Commodities at Market Prices
Danantara Indonesia has said PT Danantara Sumber Daya Indonesia (DSI) will purchase commodities from domestic producers at market prices. PT DSI is a new state-owned enterprise prepared to become the sole exporter of several strategic commodities, such as palm oil and coal.
Managing Director Stakeholders Management & Communications of Danantara Indonesia, Rohan Hafas, said PT DSI would not act as a seller or buyer that determines prices.
According to him, the company will function as a watchdog over transactions to ensure trade proceeds according to market mechanisms and to prevent under invoicing or under pricing.
“PT DSI will ensure transactions run normally and prices reflect market prices. The function of this company is to the government to prevent under invoicing,” said Rohan at a press conference in Jakarta, on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.
Rohan said that commodity prices, such as coal and crude palm oil (CPO), already have international price benchmarks, so the trading mechanism will continue to refer to global prices. Therefore, he argued, concerns about price intervention do not need to be amplified.
He said the creation of PT DSI aims to strengthen supervision of commodity exports and prevent leakage of state revenue due to manipulation of export pricing. Rohan claimed under invoicing has persisted for decades and has caused potential state losses of around Rp 15,400 trillion since 1991.
“Over 34 years of under invoicing, if you total the figures, it amounts to Rp 15,400 trillion, which is almost Rp 5,000 trillion per year in under invoicing,” he said.
Currently, the government has only designated two commodities to be exported through PT DSI, namely coal and CPO.
President Prabowo Subianto said the government will require that export of a number of strategic natural resources be carried out through a designated state-owned enterprise as the sole exporter. The commodities to be exported under this mechanism in the initial phase include palm oil, coal, and ferro-alloy.
In his speech at the DPR plenary session on the Macro Economic Framework and the Core Policies of the 2027 RAPBN, Prabowo said the policy aims to strengthen export oversight while also reducing under invoicing, transfer pricing, and foreign exchange leakage from exports.
“The sale of all our natural resource outputs, we begin with palm oil, coal, and ferro-alloy; we require that their sale be conducted through a government-appointed state-owned enterprise as the sole exporter,” Prabowo said.
Chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Farmers Association (POPSI), Mansuetus Darto, said the policy could centralise national palm oil trading and open space for monopolies, rent-seeking, and control of export routes by groups close to power.
“We question why a policy of this scale is discussed without involving palm oil farmers. Palm oil is not only about exports but also about the livelihoods of millions of farming families and regional economies across Indonesia,” Darto said in a written statement on Wednesday, 20 May 2026.
In addition, Darto lamented that the discussion of such strategic policy was conducted without involving farmers, cooperatives, or palm oil organisations. He argued that palm oil is not merely an export commodity but a livelihood for millions of farmers and a pillar of regional economies.
Darto said the proposed governance framework for palm oil exports bears similarities to the clove trading pattern through the Clove Support and Marketing Agency (BPPC) during the New Order era. At that time, clove trading was centralised through particular institutions seen as triggering monopolies and harming farmers.
He said the appointment of a single export channel via a state-owned enterprise could create a monopsony or market control by a small number of buyers. If private exporters lose direct access to global buyers, competition could weaken and farmers’ bargaining position could deteriorate.
“In that situation, the price of fresh fruit bunch (TBS) of palm oil is vulnerable to downward pressure,” Darto concluded.