Two Months After The Government Stopped EKspor Bauxite, ESDM Revealed That The Construction Of Smelters Mandek

Special Staff to the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources for the Acceleration of Mineral and Coal Governance Irwandy Arif (photo: DokMaria Trisnawati/voi.id)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) through the Special Staff of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources for the Acceleration of Mineral and Coal Governance, Irwandy Arif, said that two months after the government closed the tap for bauxite exports, the construction of purification or smelter facilities was still stagnant.

"Still (swelling). We are still following developments," said Irwandy to reporters quoted on Saturday, August 19. Irwandy hopes that with this export ban, the company can accelerate the construction of a smelter because this export termination has been carried out since June 11, 2023.

"Hopefully with this ban that was not implemented previously, there will be efforts there," added Irwandy.

Irwandy also said that if the government would open the option of handing over the smelter development, an industry of interest would be carried out if there was no seriousness from the entrepreneurs who are currently building a bauxite smelter.

He further explained that currently there are four bauxite smelters that are already operating and can produce from alumina to aluminum. "Right now, the production is 250 thousand tons, later if there are only 500 thousand, so 750 thousand, while our aluminum needs are 1 million tons," continued Irwandy.

Regarding the claim to stop exports which resulted in the closure of the bauxite mine, Irwandy ensured that this would not happen.

"Until now, I am still collecting data on approximately the production, yes, but surely it will not reach 27 million tons per year, we are doing the mapping," said Irwandy.

Previously, the government through the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) officially banned the export of bauxite as of today, Saturday, June 10, 2023. This is in line with President Joko Widodo's order to stop raw mineral exports in 2022.

In a Working Meeting with Commission VII DPR RI on May 24, Arifin said that the provision of export permits for bauxite could not be carried out because the progress of the smelter construction was slow.

Arifin revealed that from the plan to build 12 bauxite smelters in Indonesia, only four of them have been in operation. While the eight smelters are still in the construction stage.

"However, based on field reviews, there are very significant differences with independent verifier results," Arifin said in an RDP with Commission VII on Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

The four smelters that have been operating are PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina, PT Bintan Alumina Indonesia, PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery. and PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery (Ekspansi).

Meanwhile, of the 8 smelters that must be built, seven of them are still in the form of vacant land. This is not in accordance with the verification which states that several smelters have progress above 50 percent.