ESDM Approves 190 Million Tonnes of Nickel Production for 2026 Work Plan and Budget

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) has, to date, approved nickel ore production under the 2026 Work Plan and Budget (RKAB) at 190-200 million tonnes.

The approval process for all 2026 RKABs is nearly complete.

Director General of Mineral and Coal (Dirjen Minerba) at the Ministry of ESDM, Tri Winarno, stated that the evaluation stage of documents from business operators is in its final phase. His side is also continuing to urge companies that still have deficiencies in administrative documents to complete them promptly.

“The RKAB approvals are almost finished. For nickel, it’s around 190-200 (million tonnes),” Tri revealed when met at the Ministry of ESDM office in Jakarta on Monday (6/4/2026).

In addition to nickel, the coal RKAB approval process has also reached the completion stage. Tri mentioned that the government-approved coal production quota has moved from 580 million tonnes and is approaching 600 million tonnes.

“580 (million tonnes) has already moved and is approaching, almost done,” he added.

Regarding the policy discourse on relaxing production quotas raised by Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia following fluctuations in global commodity prices, Tri confirmed plans for “measured relaxation”.

Nevertheless, he emphasised that the detailed mechanism for submitting relaxation or RKAB revisions has not yet been decided by the ministry.

The government is cautious in granting production quota leniency to avoid disrupting market balance. According to Tri, uncontrolled production increases risk triggering oversupply, which would ultimately depress commodity selling prices.

“The mechanism isn’t there yet. So, don’t talk about that first. This is supply and demand; if supply becomes excessive again, prices will drop again,” he stressed.

Coal Target

For the coal sector, the government plans to cut production in 2026 to approximately 600 million tonnes. This figure represents a reduction of about 190 million tonnes compared to the 2025 production realisation of 790 million tonnes.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia stated that this production target cut aims to push coal prices back up and preserve coal reserves for the future.

According to him, Indonesia supplies around 514 million tonnes of coal, or 43% of the total global trade volume of 1.3 billion tonnes per year. This situation is the root cause of falling coal prices.

“As a result, supply and demand are not maintained, meaning coal prices drop. Through this happy opportunity, the Ministry of ESDM has met with Dirjen Minerba, and we will revise the RKAB quotas. So, we will reduce our production to make prices good and save our mines for our grandchildren,” Bahlil said, quoted on Monday (19/1/2026).

Nickel Target

In addition to coal, the government will also adjust nickel production in line with the needs of the domestic downstream industry.

At least, the Ministry of ESDM will cut the nickel production target to around 250-260 million tonnes. This figure is lower than the 2025 RKAB of 379 million tonnes.

Director General of Mineral and Coal (Minerba) at the Ministry of ESDM, Tri Winarno, said the adjustment is based on the needs of domestic smelters.

“We will adjust nickel to the production capacity of smelters. Possibly around 250-260 million tonnes,” said Tri Winarno when met at the Ministry of ESDM on Wednesday (14/1/2026).

Tri acknowledged that the nickel production cut policy is one strategy to encourage a rise in nickel prices. It has proven effective, as after the plan was to be implemented, nickel prices on the global market briefly reached US$18,000 per tonne.

He revealed that the RKAB evaluation process is still ongoing, in line with the use of a new application. However, overall, the entire process is running smoothly, especially since the existing RKAB can still be used until March.

“But don’t think this causes disruption to the RKAB approval percentage; that’s not right. Everything is fine. We can use it until March anyway,” he said.