Indonesia takes on Malaysia in battle over palm oil pricing

Indonesia takes on Malaysia in battle over palm oil pricing Palm oil is just the start. Indonesia’s new trade exchange also aims to oversee nickel and coal export volumes, prices and taxes But analysts say dominance in physical supply does not automatically translate into pricing power. Jakarta’s move to set new benchmarks may not be enough to persuade international traders to ditch Bursa Malaysia’s crude palm oil futures contract (FCPO), the industry’s principal reference for pricing and hedging. The new bourse is part of a broader push by Prabowo for greater state oversight of export prices, volumes and revenue. “We do not merely want to be a producer of global commodities. We must become a setter for prices of global commodities,” Prabowo told lawmakers during his annual budget speech before Indonesia’s House of Representatives. The Strategic Mineral and Commodity Exchange (BMKS) will be supervised by the Financial Services Authority, which said on August 19 that it had appointed Henry Rialdi as deputy commissioner responsible for the exchange’s regulation and oversight.