Articles
Short notes on how real-asset deals in Kalimantan work, and what to check before you sign.
Start here
Basics
- What investors should know about Kalimantan Kalimantan's five provinces, what its economy runs on, where real-asset deals happen and the checks on land, permits and logistics that decide them.
- The five provinces of Kalimantan, compared Capitals, economies, ports, airports and leading sectors of West, Central, South, East and North Kalimantan, set side by side in one table.
- Nusantara, the new capital: what it changes and what it doesn't Where Indonesia's new capital sits, the law and authority behind it, land terms after the 2025 court ruling, its budget and what it means for land nearby.
- Which sectors foreign investors can enter in Indonesia How the Positive Investment List sorts business fields into open, priority, conditional, reserved and closed, and why your KBLI code decides the answer.
- Setting up a foreign-owned company (PT PMA) How a foreign-owned company is set up in Indonesia: OSS licensing, KBLI codes, the capital rules since October 2025, officers and quarterly reports.
- Land rights in Indonesia: SHM, HGB, HGU and Hak Pakai What each Indonesian land title lets you do, how long it lasts and which ones a foreign investor or a PT PMA can hold.
- Forest area status: the check that can sink a land deal Why land with a certificate or a permit can still sit inside Indonesia's forest estate, how to check it and what release, PPKH and the 2025 task force mean.
- Customary land and community consent in Kalimantan How customary land is held and recognised in Kalimantan, where plantation and mine conflicts start and what real community consent looks like.
- Nominee arrangements: why they fail and what to use instead Why Indonesian law voids nominee deals over land and shares, how investors lose assets through them and the legal structures to use instead.
- Rupiah, export proceeds and dividends: moving money in and out The rupiah rule for deals inside Indonesia, the 2026 export-proceeds rules for coal and palm oil, tax on dividends paid abroad and the records to keep.
Real estate
Property
- Buying property in Indonesia as a foreigner What a foreign individual can own in Indonesia, the price floors that apply in Kalimantan, and the rules on marriage, resale, inheritance and leaving.
- How to check a land certificate before you buy The checks that show whether an Indonesian land certificate is genuine, unencumbered and matches the plot, from the land office record to the seller's spouse.
- Unregistered land: SKT, girik and segel What village land letters are worth, what changed when the five-year deadline passed on 2 February 2026, and how to buy letter-held land safely.
- The costs of buying property in Indonesia Who pays which tax and fee when Indonesian property changes hands: the acquisition duty, the seller's final tax, VAT on new units, PPAT fees and annual PBB.
- Balikpapan property: what drives the market How the refinery, the port and the new roads to Samarinda and Nusantara drive property demand in Balikpapan, and the risks to check before you buy.
- Samarinda, Banjarmasin, Pontianak and the other city markets What drives property demand in Kalimantan's other cities, from Samarinda and Banjarmasin to Pontianak, Palangka Raya and Tarakan, and what to check in each.
- Industrial and warehouse land near Kalimantan's ports Where Kalimantan's industrial estates and economic zones sit near the ports, and what to check on zoning, title, power, water, access and flooding.
- Buying from a developer: PPJB, AJB and the risks in between How a developer sale moves from the preliminary agreement (PPJB) to the deed of sale (AJB), what the law requires at each step and where buyers lose money.
- Leasing land and buildings in Indonesia How a lease works under Indonesian law, how it compares with a right of use (Hak Pakai), what happens if the owner sells or dies, and the 10% final tax on rent.
- Buying land near Nusantara: what to check first The rules that control land sales in and around the new capital, why plots sold on land letters there are risky, and the checks to finish before you pay.
Plantations
Oil palm
- How an oil palm plantation business works The life cycle of an oil palm estate, how fruit becomes crude palm oil, the core and plasma model, the main running costs and where Kalimantan's estates are.
- Plantation permits and HGU: the legal path for an estate The licences and land right an oil palm estate needs in Indonesia, the order they usually come in and the duties that come with them.
- Buying an existing plantation: the due diligence that matters What to check before you buy an oil palm estate in Indonesia: title and licences, forest status, plasma duties, people, fire, the mill and the records.
- Reading a plantation's age profile and yields How an oil palm estate's output rises and falls with the age of its palms, what drags yields down and which records show what it really produces.
- Mill or no mill: where the fruit goes Why oil palm fruit must reach a mill within 24 hours, how mills buy it, how the provincial fruit price is set and what comes off at the weighbridge.
- ISPO and RSPO: what certification means for a plantation ISPO is mandatory for oil palm estates and RSPO is voluntary: what auditors check, what buyers and lenders expect and what a lapsed certificate tells you.
- The EU deforestation rules and Indonesian palm oil What the EU deforestation regulation asks of palm oil, the dates in force in October 2026 and what it means for an estate and its smallholder fruit.
- Smallholders and plasma: the partnership side of oil palm Where plasma schemes came from, what the 20% community plantation rule asks of an estate, how plasma is run and the duties that come with an estate you buy.
- What moves palm oil prices, and the levies on top The global forces behind the palm oil price, Indonesia's export levy, duty and biodiesel mandate, and how all of it reaches the price of fruit at the farm gate.
- Peat and fire: two risks to check on any estate Why peat and fire belong in the due diligence on an oil palm estate: the peat rules, who pays when the land burns and what to check on the ground.
Mining
Gold
- Gold in Kalimantan: where it is and how it's mined Where Kalimantan's gold lies, how alluvial and hard-rock deposits differ, what the closed Kelian mine shows and why so much of the digging is unlicensed.
- Mining licences in Indonesia: IUP, IUPK and IPR How Indonesia's three main mining licences work, who can hold each one, who issues it and how gold mining areas are allocated since the 2025 law change.
- Buying into a gold mining licence: due diligence Checks to run before buying into a company that holds a gold IUP, from the licence record and the work plan to guarantees, forest status and people on site.
- Gold resources and reserves: reading a KCMI or JORC report How to read the categories in a KCMI or JORC gold report, what a competent person signs for and which red flags call for more checks.
- Alluvial gold: why it looks easy and rarely is Why alluvial gold is cheap to start and hard to make pay, and which licence, mercury and reclamation rules still apply to it.
- Illegal gold mining (PETI): what it means for a licence holder Why unlicensed gold mining is so common in Kalimantan, the penalties for digging and for buying its gold, and how licence holders and buyers can respond.
- Selling gold from an Indonesian mine: refining and buyers Why gold mined in Indonesia is refined at home, who buys it, how the export duty in force since December 2025 works and what buyers ask to see.
- Royalties and taxes on gold mining What a gold mine in Indonesia pays the state: a royalty tiered by the gold price since April 2025, land rent, income tax, VAT, regional levies and export duty.
- Gold project partnerships: joint ventures, earn-ins and offtake How to partner with an Indonesian gold licence holder: share approvals, joint ventures, earn-ins, offtake, contractors and the 51% divestment rule.
- Reclamation and closure: the cost every mine plan carries The duty to reclaim and close an Indonesian mine, how the reclamation and post-mining guarantees work, the sanctions and why closure cost belongs in the price.
Energy
Coal
- Coal in Kalimantan: the basics for investors Where Kalimantan's coal is mined, what grades it produces, who buys it and who holds the licences, with Indonesia's output figures for 2024 to 2026.
- Coal licences: IUP, IUPK and the old PKP2B contracts How coal contracts of work turn into IUPKs, where the regional-era IUPs came from and what each licence type means when you buy into a coal mine.
- How Indonesian coal is priced: HBA, HPB and the indexes What the government's reference prices do, how market indexes, sale terms and quality set what a mine is paid, and what changed for exports in 2025 and 2026.
- The domestic market obligation: 25% and the price cap How Indonesia's coal DMO works: the 25% minimum share, the USD 70 cap on coal for power plants, the sanctions and what both do to a mine's average price.
- Hauling, barging and ports: coal logistics in Kalimantan How Kalimantan coal gets from pit to ship: haul roads and the limits on public roads, river barges in low water, offshore transfers and terminal permits.
- Due diligence on a coal concession What to check before buying into a coal mine: the licence record, the yearly quota, reserves, strip ratio, haulage, land, forest status and the company's debts.
- Contract mining: how most Indonesian coal gets dug How coal mining contracts work in Indonesia: the IUJP licence, overburden and hauling rates, fuel adjustment and why the licence holder stays responsible.
- Royalties, levies and taxes on Indonesian coal What a coal miner pays the Indonesian state: royalties tied to the HBA and coal quality, IUPK charges, land rent, income tax, VAT and the export rules of 2026.
- Coal and the energy transition: what it means for investors Indonesia's power plan, the JETP, early retirement, captive plants, export demand and lenders' coal limits, and how they bear on a coal asset's time horizon.
- Void pits, reclamation and communities: coal's local footprint Why open coal pits in East Kalimantan have drowned people, what the law asks of licence holders, what an old pit can become and what a buyer should check.