Indonesia takes on Malaysia in battle over palm oil pricing

AI Summary

Indonesia is challenging Malaysia's dominance over palm oil pricing by launching a new commodities exchange set to start operations in January, including commodities like palm oil, nickel, and coal. Despite Indonesia's large palm oil production, analysts doubt this move alone will secure pricing power.

Indonesia produces and exports more palm oil than any other country, but when it comes to setting the price, it still plays second fiddle to Malaysia. President Prabowo Subianto wants to change that. On August 14, he announced a new exchange for commodities including palm oil, nickel and coal, targeted to begin operations on January 1. 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...