JAKARTADAILY.ID - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) reiterated that the government’s plan is to gradually expand its policy of banning the export of raw minerals, starting with bauxite ore next year.
The President said in a press statement on Tuesday that the export ban policy is aimed to push the development of domestic smelters and downstream industries that will create greater added values of the country’s raw minerals.
“By developing the domestic smelters and downstream industries, we create new job opportunities for Indonesian people, increase export value and state income from the mining sector, and improve our public welfare,” the President said after visiting a nickel smelter in Konawe Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province on Monday.
Previously, the Indonesian government has already banned the export of nickel ores since early 2020. “There are many benefits we can expect from the ban of nickel ore export. By considering all of the benefits, next year we will continue with the ban of bauxite. Then in the following years, we will continue with the ban of copper, gold, and then tin,” he said.
President Jokowi had previously stated that the government would ban the export of bauxite ore in 2022, and copper concentrates in 2023, and tin in 2024. But according to the mining law, the government should start banning the export of raw minerals in June of 2023.
The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) has reported that a number of alumina smelter projects are now under construction. It said that two gold and copper miners, namely PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara are developing their own copper cathode smelters in East Java and West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), which are both scheduled to be completed in 2023. (*)
