Commission VII Asks For Bauxite Export Faucet To Be Opened, IMI Says This

Smelter (Photo: Antara)

Chairman of the Indonesian Mining Institute, Irwandy Arif, responded to the suggestion of Deputy Chairman of Commission VII DPR RI Maman Abdurahman who asked the government to open the tap for bauxite exports that President Joko Widodo had stopped since 2023.

"If we have to comply with the applicable regulations and regulations. As long as the regulations and laws are still in Law No. 3 of 2020, of course we still have to be processed domestically. That's what we still have to see," said Irwandy to the media crew when met at Plaza Mandiri, Monday, September 30.

Furthermore, Irwandy said, if the suggestion to reopen the kspor bauxite tap is for the sake of temporary interests, it is necessary to consider that this policy is taken by the government for greater purposes, namely the downstream program in our industrialization. Moreover, until now Indonesia is still an aluminum deficit.

It is known that currently the need for Indonesian bauxite reaches 1 million tons while Inalum's slepters only produce 250,000 tons of aluminum and the rest are still imported from abroad.

"This deficit, we are from bauxite to alumina, from alumina to aluminum, we are still in deficit in aluminum. The need is 1 million per year, we are only producing 250,000. Even though those plans to build more are already there," said Irwandy.

Previously, Maman Abdurahman asked the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to review the possibility to open the tap for bauxite exports on a limited basis while waiting for mining companies to build bauxite smelters with conditions. The required condition is the commitment to build a smelter within a certain period of time.

"So it's limited. Yes, what kind of company, I think who is really going to commit to building a smelter," he continued.

He gave an example of granting copper concentrate export permits to Amman Mineral and Freeport under the agreement to establish a copper refining industry.

"We have to lock it properly with several orders so that miners are serious about building smelters. In order to encourage an increase in the added value of the commodity products, right," said Maman.

Based on VOI records, currently bauxite smelters in Indonesia include PT Bintan Alumina Indonesia, PT Well Harvest Winning Alumnia Refinery (WHW) and PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia (BAI) Mempawah, which just conducted its first bauxite injection on Tuesday, September 24.