Minister: Revision of GR No 1/2014 to be concluded next week
Wednesday, October 5 2016 - 05:15 AM WIB
Interim Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Luhut Panjaitan said that the revision of the Government Regulation No 1/2014 is expected to be finally concluded next week, delaying the planned export ban on mineral concentrates.
?I expect next week, (the revision) of the government regulation will be concluded,? he said on Tuesday.
As has been previously reported by this portal, a special government team late last month had already finalized the revision of the government regulation, which requires the approval of the ministry of energy and mineral resources.
The GR No 1/2014 was issued by the previous administration after the government banned the export of mineral ores early in 2014 in a bid to generate greater value from the country?s mining commodities by pushing miners to develop domestic smelters to process the ores at home. But through GR No 1, the government allowed miners such as PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara to continue export of mineral concentrates such as copper concentrates until January 12, 2017.
However, as giants such as PT Freeport and PT Newmont have yet to complete the required smelter, the current government decided to relax the export ban policy through the revision of the GR No 1/2014 as mineral concentrates provide significant export revenue for the country.
Under the revised regulation, the planned ban on the export of mineral concentrates will be delayed for another 3-5 years, giving more time for the miners to complete the smelter construction. This extension will be given to miners holding the so-called IUPK special mining business permits, which means PT Freeport and PT Newmont which hold the mining contracts of work must switch their contracts into IUPK.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak