Indonesia Expects to Revise Mining Rules in Coming Days
January 10 2017 - 11:10AM
Dow Jones News
By Sara Schonhardt
JAKARTA--Indonesia plans to issue revised mining regulations in
coming days aimed at tackling issues around export taxes for
minerals, divestment obligations and in-country processing
requirements, the minister of energy and mineral resources said
Tuesday.
Ignasius Jonan told reporters that the revisions would be ready
in a day or two. They would come as a full ban on semi-processed
minerals is set to take effect that could impact some of the
country's biggest miners, including the local arm of U.S. gold and
copper giant Freeport McMoRan (FCX).
In recent years, several regulations have been issued that have
been blamed by mining companies and industry analysts for creating
uncertainty among investors and hampering mining in a country that
is a top producer of copper, nickel, bauxite and tin.
Among them is a ban on mineral-ore exports implemented in 2014
to try to force companies to build smelters locally to add value to
ores and create jobs. A reprieve allowing the export of a limited
of minerals that have been partly processed into
concentrate--copper, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, titanium and
ilmenite--expires Thursday.
The ban has been opposed by many miners who initially said
building smelters was unfeasible given low commodities prices. It
also squeezed off exports of ores such as bauxite, nickel, tin and
gold, sidelining a critical supplier for key metals producer
China.
It has dented revenue for Indonesia and large miners like
Freeport, which has been at a loggerheads with the government over
extending its concession contract, preventing an $18 billion
investment and further development of its smelter.
--Anita Rachman contributed to this article.
Write to Sara Schonhardt at sara.schonhardt@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 10, 2017 10:55 ET (15:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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