Government proposes delay of mineral concentrates export ban

The government has proposed to the House of Representatives to delay the planned export ban on eight mineral concentrates including copper produced by giants such as PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara.

Interim Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Luhut Panjaitan said on Tuesday that the government wants the House to include the new policy in the upcoming revision of the 2009 Mining Law.

Luhut said that the delay may be for three to five years, which should give enough time for miners to complete construction of the required domestic smelters.

He, however, quickly added that the planned delay was not meant to accommodate the interest of certain mining firms such as PT Freeport, a local subsidiary of US giant Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

The previous administration launched an export ban on unprocessed mineral commodities in early 2014 as mandated by the 2009 Mining Law, requiring miners to process the commodities at home in a bid to generate greater added value for the country. The government, however, issued a regulation at the time exempting eight mineral concentrates from the export ban policy until January 2017, by which time they?re supposed to have already completed the required domestic smelter. PT Freeport, which is planning to build a copper smelter in Gresik, East Java, has yet to start construction, which raised concern that the company would not be able to meet the January 2017 deadline, which means it would not be able to make export. PT Newmont plans to participate in the PT Freeport smelter project. (*)