Indonesia to ban bauxite in 2023
2022.12.21 02:23
Indonesia to ban bauxite in 2023
Budrigannews.com – President Joko Widodo made the announcement on Wednesday that, beginning in June of next year, Indonesia will prohibit the export of bauxite, the primary ore source of aluminum, to encourage domestic processing of the material.
China is a major buyer of bauxite, making Indonesia one of the world’s largest suppliers.
The ban on bauxite exports comes at the same time as Indonesia’s current mining law.
The president, who is commonly referred to as Jokowi, had earlier on Wednesday stated at an economic forum that Indonesia would be announcing a ban on the export of a particular commodity, without specifying the commodity or the implementation timeline.
The current mining law in Indonesia also says that exports of unprocessed minerals like will also be stopped. Jokowi did not specify when the other materials would be banned from being shipped.
Indonesia temporarily prohibited coal and palm oil shipments earlier this year, causing market turmoil and weeks of uncertainty.
Following the 2020 ban on exporting nickel in its raw form, he stated on Wednesday that the government wanted to replicate the development’s success in nickel processing.
When the world’s greatest exporter of nickel mineral, Indonesia halted trades in January 2020, a move that had tempted unfamiliar financial backers, for the most part from China, to fabricate smelters in the asset rich Southeast Asian country.
Customs data indicate that China imported 17.8 million tonnes of bauxite from Indonesia in 2021 and 17.98 million tonnes in the first 11 months of this year, or approximately 15.6% of its total imports.
Indonesia is appealing a decision made by the World Trade Organization last month that sided with the European Union in a dispute over nickel ore exports.
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Jokowi stated on Wednesday that he is certain that Indonesia’s subsequent export ban will be sued, but that this will not stop him.
Tin, bauxite, gold, copper, and palm oil would all be included in the expanded export ban, according to the president’s previous statements.
