Jakarta—The government has officially issued Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation (Permen ESDM) No. 6 of 2025, which regulates the completion of metal mineral refining facilities in the country. This regulation is the basis for PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) to regain its copper concentrate export license after the fire that hit its smelter in October 2024.
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, in a press conference on Friday, 7 March, explained that this regulation had gone through a cross-ministerial discussion process before finally being approved by President Prabowo Subianto. According to him, this policy provides dispensation for companies that are building smelters but are experiencing force majeure conditions, including disasters or other unexpected events.
“We have issued the Ministerial Regulation, and this is the result of the decision of a limited meeting directly chaired by the President,” Bahlil said.
Under the new regulation, Freeport is granted permission to export concentrates for six months. “The validity period of this export license is six months since it was issued. The government will evaluate the progress of smelter construction every three months,” Bahlil added.
Freeport had previously submitted an export recommendation and a revised Work Plan and Budget (RKAB). Bahlil revealed that the amount of concentrate proposed for export reached one million tonnes. “The quota is around one million tonnes to more than that. We will see developments over the next six months,” he explained.
The export licence granted is valid until September 2025, and Freeport must ensure the construction and improvement of its smelter are on target.
Export provisions in the new regulation
Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation (Permen ESDM) No. 6 Year 2025 further regulates export licenses for companies experiencing force majeure. This regulation stipulates that the sale of processing products abroad is allowed with certain restrictions for holders of Special Mining Business Licences (IUPK) whose smelters experience disruptions due to force majeure.
Force majeure itself must be determined by the Indonesian National Police and can be considered in insurance claims on refining facilities. In addition, exports are only permitted by considering several factors, such as the sufficiency of domestic raw materials, the sustainability of mining business activities, the prevention of layoffs, the optimisation of regional and state revenues, and ensuring the repair of refining facilities within a predetermined period.
In this regulation, force majeure is defined as an unintentional and unavoidable event beyond human control. An export can only be carried out if the company meets the minimum processing requirements in accordance with applicable regulations and pays the export duty that has been determined.
With this policy, the government hopes to provide solutions for Freeport and other mining industries facing challenges in smelter construction while encouraging mineral downstreaming per the long-term vision of Indonesia’s energy and mining sectors. (Hartatik)
Banner photo: Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E via ChatGPT (2024)
