Natural Mining Products Experience Lower Prices, Ministry Says

Jakarta – The Indonesian Trade Ministry stated that the majority of mining commodity products subject to export duties experienced a decrease in prices compared to the February 2024 period.

Budi Santoso, the Director General of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Trade, mentioned that this price decrease was due to a decline in demand for these products in the global market.

This has impacted the determination of the Export Reference Price (HPE) for mining products subject to export duties for the March 2024 period.

"The majority of mining commodity products subject to export duties for the March 2024 period experienced a lower prices compared to the previous period," Santoso said in a statement in Jakarta on Saturday.

Mining products that experienced a decrease in average prices in the March 2024 period include copper concentrate (Cu ≥ 15 percent) with an average price of 3,304.43 US dollars per Wet Metric Tonne (WE), down by 0.75 percent; laterite iron concentrate (goethite, hematite, magnetite) (Fe ≥ 50 percent and Al2O2 + SiO2 ≥ 10 percent) with an average price of 58.81 US dollars per WE, down by 3.81 percent; and zinc concentrate (Zn ≥ 51 percent) with an average price of 634.17 US dollars per WE, down by 4.00 percent.

Meanwhile, the mining product that experienced an increase in average price in the March 2024 period is lead concentrate (Pb ≥ 56 percent) with an average price of 868.81 US dollars per WE, up by 3.19 percent.

The determination of the HPE for mining products for the March 2024 period is carried out by first requesting written input/proposals from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) as the relevant technical agency.

ESDM Ministry provides proposals after calculating data based on prices obtained from developments in Asian Metal, the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), and the London Metal Exchange (LME).

Then, the determination of the HPE is carried out after a coordination meeting among relevant agencies, including the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of ESDM, the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Industry.