Indonesia recommends one more miner for bauxite export permit

According to a mining ministry official, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Indonesia has recommended the names of two more companies to allow them to export bauxite and nickel ore.  This was the second such development after the government relaxed a ban on unprocessed mineral exports in January 2017.

As told by Mineral Enterprise Director Bambang Susigit to the reporters, the recommendations will allow PT Dinamika Sejahtera Mandiri to export 2.4 million tonnes of bauxite through July 2018. The recommendation also allows PT Ceria Nugraha Indotama to export 2.3 million tonnes of nickel ore within the same period.

Earlier to this, in April 2017, the Ministry issued a series of export recommendations that allowed the state-owned mining and company Aneka Tambang (ANTAM) to export bauxite and nickel ores overseas. The directive allowed export of 850,000 tonnes of bauxite. The recommendations are sent to the Trade Ministry of Indonesia who has the authority to issue export permits for mineral resources.

In January 2017, the Indonesian Government ended months of speculation by lifting its partial ban on the export of unprocessed minerals like bauxite and nickel.

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The ban was implemented in January 2014, both to boost domestic smelting capacity by developing higher value processing facilities and reduce Indonesia’s exposure to volatile global commodity prices. However, mining industry majors in the country were hit hard by the ban on nickel and bauxite ore exports.

The government finally allowed export of mineral ore after facing industry unrest, significant budget deficit, and having missed its 2016 revenue target, provided the miners show progress toward smelter development.