Jakarta, Oct 13 (Antara) - The government is unlikely to resume its export relaxation policy for unprocessed bauxite and nickel ores after revising regulations governing mineral and coal mining activities.
"This has not yet been decided, but it is almost certain that we will not give export relaxation for nickel and bauxite ores. I want a further study," acting Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Based on Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mining, the government banned the export of unprocessed mineral ores as of January 2004. However, the implementation of the ban was pushed back to January 11, 2017, to give a chance to mining companies to build smelters at home.
The export relaxation on mineral ores was contained in Government Regulation (PP) No. 1 of 2014. Now the government is drafting a revision of PP No. 1 of 2014. Many parties have expressed concern about the government's intention of resuming its export relaxation for all mineral ores.
Mines Advocate Network (Jatam) argued that export relaxation of mineral ores will deplete the country's mineral ore reserves in various regions. "Export relaxation of mineral ores will cause the state and people to lose a chance to get added value from the development of smelters," Jatam Coordinator Merah Johansyah Ismail said on Wednesday.
Besides, if the revision of the regulation allows the relaxation of mineral ore exports it will cause serious damage to the environment and threaten the people's safety.
The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) said the desire of the government to resume the export relaxation of mineral ores in the revision of the regulation will only benefit mining corporations.
"This policy will benefit only mining corporations, which exploit and absorb natural wealth, destroy the environment and threaten the safety of people," Khalisah Khalid of Walhi said on Tuesday.
According to Khalisah, the planned revision of PP No. 1 of 2014 is a repeated violation of Law No. 4 of 2009 on Mineral Mining, which does not allow the export of mineral ores.
Therefore, Khalisah said, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) should stop the revision of the regulation, which will resume the mineral ore's export relaxation. After all, investors have begun to build smelters at home.
It should not happen that the revision of the regulation and resumption of ore export relaxation would discourage investors who have built smelters. "It should not happen that the export relaxation cast doubts on the part of investors over the future of smelter investment in Indonesia," Andhika Anindyaguna of the Indonesian Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi) said.
After all, he reminded, the investment needed to build smelters for 27 projects could reach Rp156 trillion.
Luckily, the government has hinted it will not allow export relaxation, particularly for bauxite and nickel ores.
Legislator Ahmad M Ali of Commission III on Legal and Human Rights Affairs of the House of Representatives (DPR) welcomed the government's step to cancel its plan to impose export relaxation on mineral ores.
"This is a form of commitment of President Jokowi to the Indonesian people for the sake of the advancement of the country's industry and economic development," noted Ahmad M. Ali in Palu, Central Sulawesi, on Thursday.
He said the cancellation of the plan to allow export relaxation will not have a positive impact on the development of the mineral industry in the country, but also provide legal certainty for investors in the mineral resource sector.
Minister Luhut on Wednesday assured that the government is almost certain it will not allow export relaxation for nickel and bauxite in the upcoming government regulation revision.
He further said based on provisional studies, Indonesia controls almost half of the world's nickel market.
Indonesia, together with the Philippines and New Caledonia, is even believed to control 70 percent of the world's nickel supplies. It has been able to process its nickel ores for its by-products, such as stainless steel, and can now export it.
Now, a total of 22 mining companies have developed nickel in the downstream sector, both in the form of major and small smelters.
"China has imported some 40 to 60 percent of its nickel needs from Indonesia. It has also set up its stainless steel industry in Indonesia. Therefore, there is no use for us to export (ores) if it can already be processed at home," the minister stated, adding that the same reasoning could be applied to bauxite mining.
The minister also noted that besides nickel and bauxite, rare earth minerals would not see an export ban relaxation either in the revision of Government Regulation (PP) No. 1/2014 on Mineral and Coal Mining Business Activities.
Although Indonesia does not have processing technology for rare earth minerals yet, exports of raw materials should be banned.
"This mineral is very rare, but Indonesia is very rich in it. We want to process it ourselves and prepare its technology. We want this commodity to be like palm oil, where we are the ones who decide the price," he asserted.
Luhut stated that his ministry is still studying the types of minerals for which export bans will be relaxed, such as copper and its derivatives.
"I still need one more week for my team to study copper and its derivatives. But for the two mentioned earlier (nickel and bauxite), it is almost certain they will not get an export ban relaxation," he reiterated. ***3***(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE/H-YH
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 13-10-2016 21:46: |
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