Indonesia reshapes domestic mining industry: Indonesian mining giants will spend billions of dollars to reduce imports of finished metals

SMM7 22-Budi Gunadi Sadikin, president of Indonesia's state-owned enterprise PT Indonesia Asahan aluminum, said recently that the company will allocate about US $10 billion in the next five years for the development of refineries and smelters.

The company will also invest $850 million to build a 1 million-ton alumina smelter in (West Kalimantan), West Kalimantan province. The refinery, which is expected to be completed in 2022, will help reduce Indonesia's annual imports of 500000 tons of alumina.

Sadikin said it aims to increase the refinery's capacity to 2 million tons and export half of its production.

And as demand for nickel from electric car battery makers soars, the company may reach an agreement with PT Vale Indonesia to buy a 20 per cent stake in it to strengthen control over nickel production.

The company's series of actions are also in line with Indonesia's current plans for the domestic mining industry.

Indonesia is planning to spend billions of dollars building aluminium and nickel smelters at home as it seeks to reshape the domestic mining industry and curb exports of raw materials while reducing its dependence on imports of finished metals.

This is because Indonesia's own mining raw materials have been exported for decades, forcing Indonesia to rely on costly imports to meet demand.

Indonesia is likely to impose a ban on raw ore exports in 2022, pushing miners to process minerals at home, a senior official from Indonesia's mining ministry said on Thursday.

Under the 2017 mining regulations, Indonesia plans to suspend exports of raw ore on January 12, 2022, after giving miners five years to build smelters in the country.

It is expected that 41 smelters will operate in 2022, including 22 nickel smelters, 6 bauxite smelters, 4 iron ore smelters, 4 zinc smelters, 2 copper smelters, 2 anode slime smelters and 1 manganese ore smelter. "related news-[important] Indonesia may stop exporting 41 smelters in 2022. Construction is about to be completed.

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