By September 2016 the Indonesian government plans to have revised regulations regarding exports of mineral ore, part of Law No. 4/2009 on Mineral and Coal Mining (New Mining Law). Per January 2014 mineral ore exports from Indonesia should have been banned altogether as the government aims to boost domestic smelter development and reduce the country's dependence on raw material exports. However, a last-minute regulation, signed in January 2014, softened this ban and allowed exports of copper, manganese, zinc, lead, and iron ore concentrates until 2017. Now the government may decide for a two-year delay up to 2019.

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Sales of trucks in Indonesia fell 30.2 percent year-on-year (y/y) to 5,555 units in January 2016 from 7,918 units in the same month one year earlier. This weaker sales figure indicates that the market for trucks in Indonesia remains subdued. According to the latest data from the Indonesian Automotive Industry Association (Gaikindo), sales of all types of trucks fell with the exception of heavy trucks. Heavy trucks, used for mining, agriculture and infrastructure development, rose slightly to 518 units in January 2016.

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Production of heavy equipment in Indonesia fell 23 percent (y/y) to 4,100 units in 2015 due to the weak conditions in the mining and agriculture sectors. Traditionally, most of heavy equipment sales occur in these two sectors. Weak demand caused utilization of the nation's installed production capacity for heavy equipment to fall to 41 percent in 2015 from 51 percent in the preceding year. When fully utilized Indonesia can produce an estimated total of 10,000 units of heavy equipment per year.

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The recent visit of Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) General Director Tito Sulistio and Director of Corporate Listing Samsul Hidayat to Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg mine in Timika (Papua), signals that the subsidiary of US-based natural resources company Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc is serious about studying the possibility to divest a 10.64 percent stake through an initial public offering (IPO) on the IDX. Both Directors met Freeport Indonesia's General Director Maroef Sjamsoeddin at the world’s largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine.

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Indonesian oil & gas exploration and production firm Medco Energi Internasional is reportedly eager to acquire a majority stake in copper and gold miner Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), subsidiary of the US-based mining giant Newmont Mining Corp, which operates the Batu Hijau copper and gold mine on Sumbawa (West Nusa Tenggara). On Wednesday (25/11), the Medco Group informed Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Rizal Ramli that a MoU has already been signed between Medco and NNT to purchase a 76 percent stake, valued at USD $2.2 billion.

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Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources issued an export recommendation letter for copper and gold miner Newmont Nusa Tenggara (NNT), meaning that the company can resume copper concentrate exports for another six-month period after the previous permit expired on 22 September. Bambang Gatot, Director General for Coal and Minerals at the Energy Ministry, said NNT has met all requirements - including those related to NNT's commitment to establish domestic smelting facilities - in order to obtain the export recommendation letter.

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Starting per 1 January 2016, Indonesian companies’ interest payments to lenders are no longer considered tax deductible in case the company’s debt amounts to over four times its equity. Indonesian Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro said such a tighter regulation regarding corporate debt financing will make it less attractive for local companies to accumulate debt, while strengthening the company's equity structure.

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In an effort to improve legal certainty and the business climate in Indonesia’s mining industry, the government announced it will revise a regulation that currently limits the time to start negotiating about an extension of a mining permit to two years before the concession contract’s expiration date. Sudirman Said, Indonesian Energy and Mineral Resources Minister, said the government plans to allow extension talks to start up to ten years before contracts end.

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Starting from the fourth quarter of 2015 Indonesian governors will have the power to revoke mining permits when miners - those operating with a Mining Business Permit (IUP) - fail to meet requirements for the so-called “clean-and-clear” status. The clean-and-clear status shows that the mining company has no outstanding royalty and other tax obligation, fulfilled exploration and environmental commitments, has no property delineation issues, and obtained the necessary forestry permits.

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Today, Freeport Indonesia and the Indonesian government will continue negotiations regarding the miner’s request to export 575,000 tons of copper over the next six months. Freeport’s previous export permit expired on 25 July and as the local unit of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan has not yet met demands of the government it failed to get an extension for copper concentrate exports. As a result, shares of parent company Freeport McMoran Inc. tumbled 9.90 percent on the New York Stock Exchange on Friday (24/07).

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As is widely known, corruption is a widespread problem in Indonesia. Often we read about new corruption cases being unveiled that (typically) involve Indonesian state officials joining hands with the private sector in a (supposedly) win-win deal related to public procurement.

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Over the past decade we have seen some examples of protectionist tendencies in the mining sector of Indonesia. For example, gold and copper miner Freeport Indonesia came under Indonesian control in late-2018 after the state acquired a 52.1 percent stake in the company as a consequence of renegotiations (which also involved the extension of the company’s mining permits in Indonesia).

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On 10 June 2023 the Indonesian government imposed a ban on bauxite ore exports in a bid to encourage the development of a domestic bauxite processing and refining industry. This move was not a surprise. Over the past couple of years, government officials had mentioned their desire to ban bauxite ore exports from June 2023. And in December 2022 it was Indonesian President Joko Widodo himself who reaffirmed this ambition.

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On 21 December 2022 Indonesian President Joko Widodo stated that the Indonesian government will ban exports of bauxite ore starting from June 2023 in an effort to encourage the development of a domestic bauxite processing and refining industry.

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“After the nickel ore ban [imposed in January 2020], we focus on bauxite this year [2022]. And after bauxite, we will go for tin and copper. We have to dare to take these steps!”

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In recent times, commodities have been ‘hot’. The rebound in economic activity after the COVID-19 pandemic (in combination with disrupted supply and logistics chains) started a high commodity price cycle. This cycle that was subsequently strengthened by the Russo-Ukrainian war.

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Whenever Indonesia Investments discusses or illustrates the risks that are involved in Indonesia’s investment environment, we usually take the 2009 Mining Law as an example to illustrate the lack of legal certainty in Indonesia. Lack of legal certainty is one the key obstacles in Indonesia’s investment environment, and has therefore been undermining investment realization in Indonesia.

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By revising Indonesian Government Regulation No. 23/2010, the Indonesian government plans to provide local coal miners more certainty by allowing an earlier submission of a request for the extension of mining concessions. Stakeholders in the mining sector argue that this would considerably strengthen the nation’s investment climate, specifically the coal mining industry, on the back of improved legal certainty.

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After years of struggle and negotiations there now seems light at the end of the tunnel for the Indonesian government and US mining giant Freeport-McMoRan Inc. Both sides signed a Head of Agreement on Thursday 12 July 2018 that will give Indonesia’s state-owned mining company Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (better known as Inalum) and the local government of Papua a 51.23 percent stake in Freeport Indonesia, implying the company - the operator of the Grasberg mine, which is the world’s largest gold mine and second-largest copper mine – will come under Indonesian control.

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One of the companies, listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange, that is experiencing a very good performance so far in 2018 is vertically integrated and diversified mining and metals company Aneka Tambang, a state-controlled entity. Not only did the company's corporate earnings and production figures surged in the first quarter of 2018 on the back of stronger commodity prices (and rising demand), but shares of Aneka Tambang also soared - by a whopping 45.60 percent - up to Friday (22/06).

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