IdnAround.com – Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) announced his intention to extend PT Freeport Indonesia’s (PTFI) copper concentrate export permit, which will expire at the end of May.
“Yes, please continue, yes, it will be extended, but we are still calculating how much to charge,” said Jokowi to journalists, at Pasar Baru Karawang, West Java, Wednesday (8/5/2024).
Currently, the government is considering reviewing the Benchmark Export Prices (HPE) for several mining commodities, considering that several of these commodities will experience price increases in April 2024.
Although President Joko Widodo has not explained the plan to extend the permit for how long, previously relaxations in copper concentrate exports were given to PT Freeport Indonesia and PT Amman Mineral as a form of appreciation for their efforts in building the smelter.
“But the one million we value is Freeport and Amman Minerals. They have built a smelter and it is almost 100% complete. We will follow the construction week to what percentage, what percentage,” said Jokowi.
Jokowi also emphasized that the existence of smelters from Freeport and Amman Mineral reflects the strong determination of these two giant mining companies to carry out downstream operations.
“Yes, that’s the trade minister’s business. But I think the completion of the smelter shows their strong desire for downstreaming, for downstreaming within the country. I think that’s very good and that must be appreciated, you know,” said Jokowi.
As an illustration, until March 2024, the smelter owned by PT Freeport Indonesia in the JIIPE area, Gresik, East Java, has reached a level of achievement of around 93%. It is projected that the world’s largest single line copper concentrate smelter will start operating in June 2024.
Extend Contract Until 2061
Apart from that, President Jokowi’s government has also given a signal that it will extend the PT Freeport Indonesia contract until 2061 from the contract which originally ended in 2041. Currently, related parties are revising Government Regulation (PP) Number 96 of 2021 concerning the Implementation of Mineral and Mining Business Activities. Coal.
Through this revision, Freeport Indonesia will be able to apply for a contract extension whenever necessary, no longer limited to a period of five years before the end of the contract or two years before the end of the contract.
If the contract is successfully extended until 2061, the government is proposing that they will obtain an additional 10% stake in the mine located in Tembagapura, Wamena, Papua. Apart from that, Freeport was also asked to build a new smelter in the Papua region.
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