Pangkalpinang. Indonesia will soon announce a minimum reference price for tin as part of efforts to stabilize the market and shield local miners from global price volatility, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said on Sunday.

Bahlil said the planned regulation would introduce a minimum production cost benchmark for tin, serving as a protective instrument to ensure that international price swings do not disproportionately harm small-scale and community miners.

“In the near future, I will issue a minimum production price for tin so that community tin prices are consistently well protected,” Bahlil said after attending an event in Pangkalpinang.

He stressed that governance reforms were essential in regions rich in tin ore, such as Bangka Belitung, to ensure a fair balance of benefits between large businesses and local communities.

“Businesses must not prosper while the people suffer. That is not acceptable. Investment must grow together with the people,” Bahlil said.

To accelerate the issuance of the regulation, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry has been coordinating closely with Commission XII of the House of Representatives. The government expects the policy to not only stabilize prices but also encourage investment in tin downstream processing, particularly in Bangka Belitung.

“I have coordinated with Commission XII chairman Bambang Patijaya to immediately issue this tin minimum price regulation, so that community tin prices are protected and downstream investment in this region can be encouraged,” Bahlil said.

President Prabowo Subianto said in October last year that around 1,000 tin mines in Bangka Belitung had been shut down for operating without permits and failing to pay taxes. Indonesia, one of the world’s largest tin producers, has lost significant output due to illegal mining and smuggling into export markets.

Following those enforcement measures, global tin prices have surged in recent months, reaching an all-time high of more than $53,000 per ton on Jan. 14.