President Joko Widodo announced on Wednesday that the copper concentrate export licenses for Freeport Indonesia and Amman Mineral Nusa Tenggara will be renewed, with further details of the license extensions still under discussion. These renewals come as both companies are nearing the completion of their respective copper smelters, expected to begin operations in June. However, there are indications that it will take several months for these new facilities to ramp up capacity to fully utilize the copper concentrate produced.
The current licenses for both companies are due to expire on May 31st, which has added urgency to their finalization. President Widodo commented positively on the advancements, noting, "I think with the completion of the smelter, it shows their strong desire to start downstream processing in Indonesia."
As of now, Freeport Indonesia and Amman have not provided comments regarding the extension of their export licenses. This development is part of Indonesia's broader strategy to enhance its domestic processing capabilities and retain more value from its mineral resources.
