Indonesia will issue copper concentrate export permits for miner Freeport Indonesia and Amman Mineral Internasional, a trade ministry official said on Friday. The permits will take effect from June 1 and allow both companies to export until December 31, ensuring their exports would not be disrupted.
Indonesia had previously banned shipments of all raw minerals from June 2023, but Freeport and Amman were given a year-long dispensation to export their copper concentrate to allow the miners more time to finish the construction of their smelters. Both companies have since lobbied the government for another extension, arguing that their smelters would not reach full capacity by next month.
Budi Santoso, the trade ministry’s director general of international trade, said the new permits would allow Freeport and Amman to continue exporting. Amman has already started the commissioning of its smelter, and the production of the first batch of copper cathodes is expected in the second half of 2024.
A Freeport Indonesia spokesman said the company is still coordinating with the government regarding the export permit extension. Amman did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the export permit, but had earlier said it was still waiting for its new export permit.
The extension of the export permits for Freeport and Amman comes after President Joko Widodo said on May 8 that the government would extend the companies’ export permits, though without providing details at the time.