Indonesia will enforce a complete ban on the export of raw nickel ore from January 1, two years earlier than planned, as the nation seeks to lock in supplies for dozens of smelters that are under construction and buttress a drive to build out local processing capacity, an official said.
The suspension is also in line with a plan to preserve low-grade nickel ore containing cobalt and lithium for use in electric batteries, Bambang Gatot Ariyono, director general for mineral and coal at the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, told reporters on Monday. Miners with outstanding permits to export nickel ore may ship the mineral until the year-end, he said.