Dear Valued Users,
Indonesia, as the world's largest exporter of thermal coal, plays a significant role in the global seaborne coal market. Changes in the country's coal supply, exports and domestic pricing can have a substantial impact on regional supply-demand dynamics, international trade flows and coal prices, particularly across the Asian market. Indonesia supplies coal across a broad range of calorific values, with different coal grades showing distinct characteristics in terms of export destinations, end-use demand and market pricing. Therefore, timely monitoring of official benchmark prices across different calorific-value categories is important for understanding developments in the Indonesian coal market.
The Harga Batubara Acuan (HBA), or Indonesian Coal Benchmark Price, is published by Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) and serves as an important official reference within Indonesia's coal pricing system. Indonesia currently publishes four major benchmark categories—HBA, HBA I, HBA II and HBA III—corresponding to coal specifications of 6,322 GAR, 5,300 GAR, 4,100 GAR and 3,400 GAR, respectively.
HBA also plays an important role in Indonesia's coal sales and regulatory framework. It is used as a reference in calculating the Harga Patokan Batubara (HPB), or Coal Benchmark Selling Price, for different coal specifications. In addition, under Indonesia's current non-tax state revenue (PNBP) framework, applicable coal royalty rates are linked to HBA price levels. As a result, HBA is not only an important indicator of official Indonesian coal price movements, but also a key reference for coal producers when assessing sales revenue, royalty costs and operating profitability.
To further enhance SMM's Indonesian coal pricing and data coverage, improve transparency of Indonesia's official coal benchmark prices and provide market participants with more timely and systematic market references, SMM officially launched its Indonesian Coal HBA Weekly Price data series on August 12, 2026, covering four major calorific-value categories: HBA, HBA I, HBA II and HBA III.
1. Data Point Names
(1) 6,322 GAR
- SMM: Indonesian Coal HBA Price 6322GAR: Weekly
(2) 5,300 GAR
- SMM: Indonesian Coal HBA Price 5300GAR: Weekly
(3) 4,100 GAR
- SMM: Indonesian Coal HBA Price 4100GAR: Weekly
(4) 3,400 GAR
- SMM: Indonesian Coal HBA Price 3400GAR: Weekly
2. Publication Frequency and Timing
- Update Frequency: Weekly
- Unit: USD/ton
- First Publication Date: August 12, 2026
The above data will enable users to track changes in HBA prices across different calorific-value categories and better understand developments in Indonesia's official coal benchmark pricing system. The data can serve as a reference for coal producers, traders and end users in assessing coal selling prices, royalty costs, procurement costs, trading margins and market trends.
SMM will continue to closely monitor developments in the Indonesian coal market, changes in the HBA pricing mechanism and relevant regulatory policies, and will update the related data in a timely manner.
For any questions or suggestions, please feel free to contact us.
SMM Ferrous Industry Research Team
August 12, 2026