Freeport Asks For Extension Of Copper Concentrat Exports, Bahlil Says This

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia. (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Bahlil Lahadalia responded to PT Freeport Indonesia's plan to propose an extension of the export of copper concentrate.

Bahlil said this was the result of the burning incident of the PTFI refining industry last October so that the smelter operation had to temporarily stop.

In fact, he said, the export license for the PTFI copper concentrate would previously expire in December 2024.

"Now at Freeport there is another problem with a little bit of sulfic acid, if I'm not mistaken, I'm still submitting a proposal for concentrat exports," said Bahlil, quoted on Thursday, December 5.

Bahlil admitted that the government would be careful in responding to this proposal for an extension of copper exports.

He asked for clarification from PTFI regarding the length of the smelter repair process after being hit by a fire incident in October 2024.

"I said wait a minute, we have to speak clearly. How long is this working?" continued Bahlil.

According to him, this fire incident should not be an excuse for PTFI to export raw materials because the profits obtained from smelters are not much.

Moreover, the newly inaugurated smelter will reach the production stage with full capacity by the end of 2024.

"Don't think that Freeport will continue to make this an excuse for raw material exports because the profit from the smelter is not too much," he said.

Meanwhile, PTFI President Director Tony Wenas explained that his party was still submitting a proposal to relax the export of copper concentrate.

"The smelter has an accident, a fire, so we have to stop first and we have to fix it first so that flexibility is needed to be able to export in 2025 until the smelter operates again," Tony said, quoted on Thursday, December 5.

Tony said, for the additional amount of the export quota, his party had submitted it to the government and was waiting for approval.

Just so you know, PTFI's copper concentrate export license is valid until December 31, 2024.

However, he did not provide further information regarding the additional amount of quota submitted to the government.

"Again, we are discussing with the government the additional quota is not relaxation, this is an additional export quota for this year, in 2024 there will be only a month left," he said.

Tony added that Freeport is still calculating the estimated recovery time of the smelter that caught fire last October.

Based on preliminary estimates, the smelter can return to full operation within about six months.

"We are still calculating, but maybe it is estimated that it may take about six months," Tony concluded.