Govt sets export reference price for mineral concentrates

The Ministry of Trade has issued the export reference price of certain mineral concentrates for the period of March 2014.

Director General of Foreign Trade Bachrul Chairi said that the ministry has issued two regulations including Regulation No 06/M-DAG/PER/I/2014 and Regulation No 12/M-DAG/PER/2/2014 on the export reference price.

The export reference price will be used by the government as the basis in calculating the export duty of mineral concentrates. The government introduced on January 12 of this year export ban on mineral ores in a bid to generate greater value added from mineral commodities by forcing miners to process the ores at home first. But certain so-called mineral concentrates including copper, zinc, lead, manganese, iron ore, ilmenite, and titanium are still allowed to be sold overseas until 2017 as long as they meet the minimum purity requirement and pay export tax.

Bachrul said that the export reference price, also better known here as HPE, is determined by using a formula based on several benchmark prices including from the London Metal Exchange, Asian Metal, and FOB prices.

The HPE for copper concentrate in March of 2014 has been set at an average of US$1,903.04/WMT; for iron ore (hematite, magnetite, and pyrite) concentrate at an average of $89.86/WMT; iron ore (gutit/laterite) at average price of $42.41/WMT; manganese $191.58/WMT; lead $879.89/WMT; zinc $484.86/WMT; ilmenite (in the form of sand) at $280/WMT; ilmenite (in the form of pellet) $560/WMT; titanium (in the form of sand) $285.20/WMT; and titanium in the form of pellet $570.40/WMT.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak