Indonesia is discussing a plan to impose a moratorium on development of new nickel processing facilities that produce partly processed metals, the senior minister overseeing mining, Bahlil Lahadalia, said on Wednesday.
The plan is part of the country’s efforts to prop up prices of nickel products, said Bahlil.
Bahlil was named as Coordinating Minister of Downstreaming and Energy Transition in President Prabowo Subianto’s cabinet reshuffle last week, on top of his current role as energy and mining minister, to streamline investment policies into downstream resources industries.
Oversupply of partly processed nickel products from Indonesia has caused prices to drop, Bahlil said.
“We are considering to minimise the industries that produce semi-finished products, and we may even impose a moratorium, while we promote industries that produce end-products,” he told reporters.
Indonesia is the world’s largest exporter of nickel products, but most of its shipments are crude metals such as nickel pig iron or ferronickel.
The government will also maintain its policies to control the mining quota of nickel to support prices, Bahlil said.
(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
