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New benchmark pricing policy has led to customer loss, Antam tells House
At a meeting with House Commission XII broadcast live on Thursday, the Antam president director said its products had become unsellable because buyers balked at paying the government-mandated benchmark prices for minerals and coal.
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Smoke billows on May 10, 2024 from the nickel smelter of state-owned PT Antam Tbk in Pomalaa district, Kolaka regency, Southeast Sulawesi. Home to at 81 million tonnes of the metal, the province has the largest nickel reserves in the country. (Antara/Andry Denisah)
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tate-owned diversified miner Antam has been unable to sell its products for the past month since the government mandated the use of its mineral benchmark price (HPM), which is generally higher than the reference price most buyers use.
The policy had made the company’s products unsellable because as buyers were unwilling to pay the HPM, Antam president director Nico Kanter said on Thursday, referring to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministerial Regulation No. 72/2025 that took effect on Feb. 28.
“Since April 1, we’ve had no sales. Buyers and smelters are unwilling to purchase at the HPM because it would result in losses,” Nico told a meeting with House of Representatives Commission XII overseeing energy and mineral resources, which was broadcast live.
“In addition to [washed] bauxite, what has been affected also by the HPM [policy] is Antam's smelter business, especially ferronickel,” he said.
The new regulation mandates mineral and thermal coal exporters to sell their commodities based on government-set prices: the HPM for minerals as well as the coal benchmark price (HBA).
Before the new policy took effect, Antam could negotiate bauxite sales directly with buyers through business-to-business (B2B) agreements.
The government now mandates companies to hold a mining business license (IUP) or special mining business license (IUPK) for the production stage and have a coal mining concession work agreement (PKP2B) to sell their products using the HPM and HBA.
