Discussing The Prohibition Of Nickel Exports With Luhut, Faisal Basri: I Was Considered A Secret Leak

Faisal Basri (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

Senior Economist Faisal Basri admitted that he had met directly with the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment (Menko Marves) Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to discuss the ban on nickel exports.

Faisal said that Coordinating Minister Luhut actually objected to the export ban. In fact, said Faisal, he was considered to have stabbed Luhut from behind for leaking the secret.

"I have met Mr. Luhut. Mr. Luhut personally does not agree with the ban on nickel exports, but because I leaked the talk, he said it was a secret," said Faisal in a publication study on Ecological Action and People's Emancipation in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta, Monday, September 25.

"I am talking about 'no secretes', what we discussed is public issues, not Pak Luhut's family or B2B's problems," he added.

According to Faisal, the conversation between himself and Luhut should not be kept secret because it is about public issues. He considered that Luhut did not agree with the export ban because the price of nickel was getting more expensive.

"For me, there are no secrets. He does not agree with the export ban because surely the ban will cause expensive nickel prices. If it is expensive, from now on, the electric car company will stay away from nickel in the country," he said.

He explained that as many as 73 percent of electric car manufacturers in Indonesia do not use nickel raw materials due to high prices. In fact, new innovations continue to be created so that the price of electric cars is cheaper.

"The country that pretends to know will create a spirit of innovation, producing cheaper products. So, when we have a nickel factory, the car, right, we don't use nickel. We also discuss that if China has many choices, (Indonesia) has no choice, the capital is only nickel," he said.

As previously reported, Senior Economist Faisal Basri answered that President Joko Widodo (Jokowi)'s rebuttal regarding the downstream nickel policy in Indonesia only benefited China. Previously, President Jokowi said that downstreaming provided added value to the country to reach Rp510 trillion.

Quoted from his personal blog, Faisal Basri said that the figures presented by the President were unclear about the sources and calculations.

"The president wants to make sure that the downstream nickel policy is very profitable for Indonesia and there is no true accusation that most downstream policies are enjoyed by China," Faisal continued in his blog quoted Monday, August 14.

Faisal detailed that based on 2014 data, the export value of nickel ore code HS 2604 was recorded at only Rp1 trillion. This was obtained from exports worth 85.913 million US dollars multiplied by the average exchange rate of rupiah in the same year, which was Rp11.865 per US dollar.

"Then, where did the figure of Rp510 trillion come from? Based on 2022 data, the export value of iron and steel code HS 72 which is claimed to be the result of downstreaming is US$27.8 billion. Based on the average exchange rate of rupiah in 2022 of 14,876 per US dollar, the export value of iron and steel code HS 72 is equivalent to Rp413.9 trillion," explained Faisal.