Mitsubishi Materials and the expansion of Copper smelter capacity in Freeport, Indonesia

Indonesia's PT Smelting, a joint venture between Mitsubishi Materials and Freeport Indonesia, began construction of an East Java copper smelter expansion project costing 3.2 trillion rupiah ($223 million) on Saturday.

The expansion will increase the cathode copper production capacity of the plant from the current 300000 tons to 342000 tons, the company said in a statement.

"the goal of the expansion is to be completed by December 2023." Irjuniawan Radjamin, director of PT Smelting, said.

PT Smelting processes copper concentrates produced by Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of Freeport-McMoRan, responsible for the Grasberg mine from the Papua region of Indonesia.

The expansion will increase the plant's copper concentrate production capacity from the current 1 million tons to 1.3 million tons, the statement said.

Resource-rich Indonesia is keen to develop its downstream metals industry to promote investment and create jobs, and President Joko Widodo says the government plans to ban exports of raw materials to encourage such investment.