IMA sees steep decline in mineral output next year

By Bambang Atmaja

The Indonesian Mining Association (IMA) forecast the country?s unprocessed mining products to drop drastically next year following the implementation of Mining Law on January 12, a senior official of the association said.

The law stipulates that mineral ores export must be banned starting January 12 of 2014 in a bid to force the domestic processing and refining of mineral ores to generate greater value added for the country from mining commodities. Despite protests from some miners, others have started building new domestic smelters.

IMA Spokesman Herman Kasih said that the total number of smelters operating next year remains insufficient to process the country?s entire mineral ore production. The association predicted no more than 10 new smelters to kick off next year.

?Of course the production of mineral ores is going to decline drastically next year,? he said Monday on the sidelines of a discussion on the mining industry in Jakarta.

?It is because the number of smelters to process the ores is very limited,? said Herman.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak