The government has completed the construction of five of the targeted seven smelters in 2023.
“Five smelters have been 100 percent completed, while the other two smelters will be completed soon,” Acting Director General of Mineral and Coal at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Bambang Suswantono, said in an annual press conference on Tuesday.
Bambang cited the details of the progress of the seven smelters as follows:
- Aneka Tambang. The smelter, which is located in Pomalaa, Kolaka, Southeast Sulawesi, was built and has carried out production activities since 1976. In 2007 the company carried out an expansion.
- PT Vale Indonesia in South Sulawesi which is 100 percent complete. PT Vale Indonesia is a contract of work holder that produces nickel matte products. The smelter was built and has been operating since 1978. The company carried out an expansion in 2011.
- PT Wanatiara Persada in North Maluku is 100 percent complete. The smelter was built and has been operating to produce Ferronickel since 2019.
- PT Fajar Bhakti Lintas Nusantara is a Nickel Pig Iron (NPI) smelter in North Maluku. The smelter has been built since 2015, but currently the company stopped the operation of the smelter due to high production costs (coke raw material costs).
- PT Weda Bay Nickel in North Maluku. The smelter has been built and has been operating since 2020.
- PT Antam (Haltim Ferronickel Plant Development Project) in North Maluku is currently auctioning the construction of a power plant. Total progress of the construction is 99.9 percent.
7.PT Sebuku Iron Lateritic Ores in South Kalimantan which is an iron smelter that produces sponge ferro alloy. Total progress of the construction is 99.24 percent.
Slow Bauxites Smelters
Bambang added that from the seven smelters, the majority are nickel and iron smelters. Beside those smelters, there are also other smelters on progress including Freeport Indonesia copper smelters and several bauxites smelters in West Kalimantan.
He addmitted that there are problems in the construction of bauxites smelters, including obstacles in finding investor for funding and the process of restoring Mining Business Permit.
As previously reported, the development of the Indonesia bauxite downstream industry has been less encouraging with only four companies having the capacity to process bauxite into alumina.
Irwandy Arif, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry’s special staffer for the acceleration of mineral and coal management, says there are eight companies that have promised to the government to establish bauxite refineries.
However, there has been no significant progress in their development of the refineries. “They are very slow,” Irwandy said.
