Government Tones Down Indonesia's Export Ban Unprocessed Minerals
Only about one hour before the controversial new Mining Law No.4/2009 would take effect on early Sunday morning (12/01), President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a regulation that eases the impact of the new law. The aim of Mining Law No.4/2009 is to ban the export of certain unprocessed minerals (including concentrates) but the new regulation that was signed on Saturday evening (11/01) stipulates that concentrates can still be exported for the next three years, while exports of ore are prohibited since Sunday morning.
The statement was given by a few key ministers of Indonesia - Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Jero Wacik, Industry Minister MS Hidayat - in a press conference late on Saturday evening.
Due to this moderation of Mining Law No.4/2009 major miners, such as Freeport McMoRan, will be able to continue to export mineral concentrates until 2017. However, the Indonesian government will impose new and higher taxes on these exports for the next three years.
Further Reading:
• Indonesia Seeking Middle Way in Unprocessed Mineral Export Ban
• Indonesia's Mining Export Ban Impacts on Current Account Deficit in 2014
• Indonesia Might Delay Implementation of Mineral Export Ban by 3 Years
• Indonesia May Review its Ban on the Export of Unprocessed Minerals
• Go-Ahead for Indonesia's Controversial Ban on Unprocessed Mineral Exports
• Indonesia Studying Temporary Exemption for Export of Raw Minerals
• Export Ban on Unprocessed Minerals Temporarily Pressures Trade Balance