“Starting from June 2023, the government will impose a ban on exports of bauxite ore and push for development of processed bauxite in the country,” says Jokowi.
JAKARTA: Indonesia will impose a ban on bauxite exports from the middle of next year, the latest measure aimed at boosting domestic processing of the nation’s mineral resources.
“Starting from June 2023, the government will impose a ban on exports of bauxite ore and push for development of processed bauxite in the country,” President Joko Widodo said in a briefing on YouTube. This means the “added value is enjoyed in the country for the progress and welfare of the people.”
Jokowi, as the president is known, also flagged that there are potentially more prohibitions on raw material shipments coming in 2023.
South-East Asia’s largest economy has over the last few years been pursuing policies designed to create jobs and revenue by processing more of its natural resources at home, rather than just shipping out raw materials.
Jokowi said this month that Indonesia wouldn’t follow a purely open economic model that he blamed for undercutting Latin America’s growth prospects for decades.
Bauxite is an ore used to make aluminum. Indonesia is the world’s sixth-largest producer and holds the fifth-biggest reserves, according to a US Geological Survey report.
It’s the third-largest supplier of the mineral to China, after Guinea and Australia. Exports of bleached bauxite are also to be banned.
The World Trade Organisation ruled last month that Indonesia’s earlier ban on nickel ore exports violated international trade rules following a complaint by the European Union.
Jakarta is appealing the decision. — Bloomberg
