Investment Ministry Prepares Downstream Processing of 28 Commodities Following Nickel Success
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — The Ministry of Investment and Downstream Processing, also known as the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), is preparing to implement downstream processing for 28 commodities, building on the success of nickel downstreaming in Indonesia.
Deputy Minister of Investment and Downstream Processing/BKPM Todotua Pasaribu revealed that, reflecting on the success of the downstream processing programme particularly for nickel, his ministry is preparing to extend the programme to 28 other commodities.
As is well known, nickel downstreaming successfully increased added value by tenfold to US$30 billion, equivalent to Rp486.56 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp16,218 per US dollar) in 2024.
"These 28 commodities — we have a mineral cluster, a coal cluster, an oil and gas cluster, an agriculture cluster, and a forestry cluster. The commodities are already identified, and we have now begun to take them seriously one by one," he told CNBC Indonesia at the Mining Zone Special Dialogue event on Thursday (10 July 2025).
Todotua said that beyond nickel, the government is also pushing bauxite downstreaming so that it can be processed domestically into derivative products, namely alumina and subsequently aluminium. In parallel, downstream processing of other mining commodities such as tin and coal is also being pursued.
"We are now in the process of refining the downstream concept. Other commodities that we have begun pushing into the downstreaming programme include bauxite. With bauxite, it typically becomes an alumina product and then an aluminium product," he added.
Beyond the mining sector, Todotua explained that the domestic downstream processing programme also targets agricultural and forestry commodities.
"This has already begun, and this is what we are pushing hard to refine. The basis for all of this comes back to the design of the downstreaming roadmap, which is based on commodity volume," he emphasised.
**28 Commodities for Downstream Processing**
According to Ministry of Investment/BKPM records, the following is the composition of reserves for 28 commodities in Indonesia within the global context:
1. Nickel (42%) — No. 1 in the world
2. Tin (16.3%) — No. 2 in the world
3. Copper (3%) — No. 11 in the world
4. Bauxite (4%) — No. 6 in the world
5. Iron and steel (0.94%) — No. 16 in the world
6. Gold and silver (gold 5%, silver 2%)
7. Coal — No. 7 in the world
8. Buton asphalt (3.91%) — No. 3 in the world
9. Crude oil (0.1%) — No. 5 in Asia-Pacific
10. Natural gas (0.7%) — No. 4 in Asia-Pacific
11. Palm oil (58.7%) — No. 1 in the world
12. Coconut (27%) — No. 1 in the world
13. Rubber (27%) — No. 2 in the world
14. Biofuel (59%) — No. 1 in the world (from palm oil alone)
15. Timber logs (4%) — No. 6 in the world
16. Pine resin (13%) — No. 3 in the world
17. Shrimp (16%) — No. 3 in the world
18. Tuna, skipjack and mackerel (21%) — No. 1 in the world
19. Blue swimming crab (3%) — No. 2 in the world
20. Seaweed (28%) — No. 2 in the world
21. Salt land potential — 47,734 hectares
22. Silica sand (0.9%) — No. 18 in the world
23. Manganese (3.2%) — No. 7 in the world
24. Cobalt (7.19%) — No. 3 in the world
25. Rare earth metals — reserves of 227,976 tonnes
26. Cocoa (4%) — No. 7 in the world
27. Nutmeg (31.2%) — No. 1 in the world
28. Tilapia (22.1%) — No. 1 in the world
Deputy Minister of Investment and Downstream Processing/BKPM Todotua Pasaribu revealed that, reflecting on the success of the downstream processing programme particularly for nickel, his ministry is preparing to extend the programme to 28 other commodities.
As is well known, nickel downstreaming successfully increased added value by tenfold to US$30 billion, equivalent to Rp486.56 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp16,218 per US dollar) in 2024.
"These 28 commodities — we have a mineral cluster, a coal cluster, an oil and gas cluster, an agriculture cluster, and a forestry cluster. The commodities are already identified, and we have now begun to take them seriously one by one," he told CNBC Indonesia at the Mining Zone Special Dialogue event on Thursday (10 July 2025).
Todotua said that beyond nickel, the government is also pushing bauxite downstreaming so that it can be processed domestically into derivative products, namely alumina and subsequently aluminium. In parallel, downstream processing of other mining commodities such as tin and coal is also being pursued.
"We are now in the process of refining the downstream concept. Other commodities that we have begun pushing into the downstreaming programme include bauxite. With bauxite, it typically becomes an alumina product and then an aluminium product," he added.
Beyond the mining sector, Todotua explained that the domestic downstream processing programme also targets agricultural and forestry commodities.
"This has already begun, and this is what we are pushing hard to refine. The basis for all of this comes back to the design of the downstreaming roadmap, which is based on commodity volume," he emphasised.
**28 Commodities for Downstream Processing**
According to Ministry of Investment/BKPM records, the following is the composition of reserves for 28 commodities in Indonesia within the global context:
1. Nickel (42%) — No. 1 in the world
2. Tin (16.3%) — No. 2 in the world
3. Copper (3%) — No. 11 in the world
4. Bauxite (4%) — No. 6 in the world
5. Iron and steel (0.94%) — No. 16 in the world
6. Gold and silver (gold 5%, silver 2%)
7. Coal — No. 7 in the world
8. Buton asphalt (3.91%) — No. 3 in the world
9. Crude oil (0.1%) — No. 5 in Asia-Pacific
10. Natural gas (0.7%) — No. 4 in Asia-Pacific
11. Palm oil (58.7%) — No. 1 in the world
12. Coconut (27%) — No. 1 in the world
13. Rubber (27%) — No. 2 in the world
14. Biofuel (59%) — No. 1 in the world (from palm oil alone)
15. Timber logs (4%) — No. 6 in the world
16. Pine resin (13%) — No. 3 in the world
17. Shrimp (16%) — No. 3 in the world
18. Tuna, skipjack and mackerel (21%) — No. 1 in the world
19. Blue swimming crab (3%) — No. 2 in the world
20. Seaweed (28%) — No. 2 in the world
21. Salt land potential — 47,734 hectares
22. Silica sand (0.9%) — No. 18 in the world
23. Manganese (3.2%) — No. 7 in the world
24. Cobalt (7.19%) — No. 3 in the world
25. Rare earth metals — reserves of 227,976 tonnes
26. Cocoa (4%) — No. 7 in the world
27. Nutmeg (31.2%) — No. 1 in the world
28. Tilapia (22.1%) — No. 1 in the world