By Deden Sudrajat and I Made Sentana
JAKARTA--PT Freeport Indonesia may start exporting copper
concentrate on Wednesday after it reached an agreement with the
government late last month to resume the exports after a six-month
stalemate.
Freeport Indonesia's Chief Executive Rozik Soetjipto said that
the local unit of U.S. copper and gold producer Freeport-McMoRan
Inc. (FCX) may resume overseas shipments with 10,000 metric tons of
the mineral bound for China.
The Indonesian government in January imposed an export ban on
unprocessed ores aimed at keeping lucrative refining work within
the country. In addition to the ore-export ban, the government in
January imposed export duties on mineral concentrates of copper,
iron, zinc, and manganese. The duties, which begin at 20%-25%,
would rise to 60% before a complete ban on concentrate exports is
imposed in 2017.
The government and Freeport Indonesia on July 25 struck a deal
allowing the miner to pay lower export taxes as it agreed to build
a smelter in Indonesia.
Director General of Coal and Mineral Resources Sukhyar said then
that Freeport Indonesia's total copper-concentrate exports are
expected to reach 756,300 tons by year-end, with an estimated value
of $1.56 billion.
Write to I Made Sentana at i-made.sentana@wsj.com