Indonesia is one of the world's largest bauxite suppliers with China being its major customer. (Photo: Bloomberg) Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo on December 21 confirmedan export ban for bauxite – a main ore source of aluminum from June next yearto encourage domestic processing.
Accordingto the US Geological Survey, Indonesia is the world's sixth-largest producer ofbauxite and has the fifth biggest reserves. The country is the third largest bauxitesupplier to China, behind Guinea and Australia.
The timing of the ban is consistent with Indonesia's current Mining Law, which stipulates that the export of other unprocessed mineralssuch as copper will also be stopped. However, President Joko Widodo did not specifythe timing of the export ban on other raw minerals.
Previously,Indonesia banned the export of coal and palm oil for a short time, causing weeks of uncertainty in markets that consume these commodities.
Jokosaid the bauxite ban aims to replicate Indonesia’s success in nickel processing development after halting the export of its raw form in January2020, which helped draw foreign investors, mostly from China, to build localsmelters.
Accordingto Indonesia’s customs data, China imported 17.8 million tonnes of bauxite fromIndonesia in 2021 and 17.98 million tonnes in the first 11 months of this year,accounting for about 15.6% of total imports./.
