Recalibrating Indonesia’s Proposed Single Trade Entity for Palm Oil, Coal and Ferroalloy Exports

The plan for a single entity for the export of palm oil, coal, and ferroalloys arises from concerns about under-invoicing, misinvoicing, transfer pricing, as well as foreign exchange and state revenue leakage. This study evaluates the policy through a qualitative literature review on commodity governance and state capacity. The results indicate that a state exporter monopoly risks causing operational barriers, contract disruptions, fiscal burdens, and rent-seeking opportunities. As an alternative, the article proposes a supervisory and data integration entity through digital reporting, payment and quality verification, beneficial ownership transparency, reference price analytics, risk-based audits, and AI-assisted anomaly detection. This approach strengthens oversight without centralizing commercial decisions.