Indonesia Bans Ore Exports in Push for Metal Smelting
This article is for subscribers only.
Indonesia’s ban on mineral ore exports will cut nickel supplies while allowing Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. to keep exporting copper concentrates. Nickel and the rupiah rallied, while shares of Nickel Asia Corp., which accounts for about a third of Philippine output, climbed.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a regulation implementing the ban, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik told reporters on Jan. 11, after a meeting of ministers in West Java. The rule, which went into effect yesterday after months of wrangling, prohibits raw ore exports and permits shipments of processed or refined minerals if they meet specified purity levels, according to a ministerial decree.