SILO plans to build second iron ore smelting plant
Wednesday, January 15 2014 - 01:16 AM WIB
Operations Director Henry Yulianto was quoted as saying that the SILO Group has completed the construction work of its first dry iron ore smelting plant worth $50-60 million.
He said that it will take about 2-3 years to construct the second plant. "The plan is a proof of our commitment to adhere to the government regulation," he claimed.
As mandated by the 2009 Mining Law, the government on January 12, 2014, banned the export of mineral ores, forcing miners to build domestic smelters on their own or in cooperation with third party investors in a bid to generate greater value added from mineral commodities for the country. In a last minute regulatory changes last week, however, the government watered down the export ban policy, allowing certain mineral ores which have been processed at home and meets the government?s minimum processing requirement to continue export.
Henry emphasized that he will continue to strive to get an export permit, as the iron ores exported by SILO to China is already processed (crushing/washing/drying), and thus there has been a 10 percent increase in the content rate, from 40-45 percent to 44-50 percent. (*)