Ministry targets 30 mineral smelters to be completed through 2022

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that a total of 30 mineral smelters will have to be completed through 2022 when the government starts banning export of mineral concentrates, Kontan reported on Monday.

The paper quoted Director General of Mineral and Coal at the ministry Bambang Gatot Ariyono as saying that the government has set a target of 57 smelters until 2022, of which as per end of last year 27 have been completed.

Of the 27 completed smelters, 17 are nickel smelters, two copper smelters, two bauxite smelters, four iron smelters, and two manganese smelters.

“Until 2022, the target is to have 57 smelters, of which 27 have been already 100 percent completed, and the remaining 30 percent are still in progress,” Bambang said.

The remaining 30 smelters include 16 nickel smelters, three copper smelters, five bauxite smelters, two iron smelters, and four lead and zinc smelters.

The government in early 2017 introduced a policy allowing mineral miners to resume export of mineral concentrates under certain conditions including requirement to develop domestic smelters to allow the country to generate greater value from the mineral commodities. The smelter projects must be completed by 2022 when the government plans to start banning the export of mineral concentrates.

There has been criticism that construction of the smelter projects have been moving at a snail’s pace due among others to financing challenges and recent weakening of the commodity prices. (*)