Indonesia’s trade ministry has issued one more tin export licence, bringing the total number of licenced companies to 23. Meanwhile the country’s parliament was earlier today expected to ratify a new mining law which has been under discussion for the last three years.
The ministry approved the export licence on December 3 for PT Eunindo Usaha Mandiri, which has a smelter on Riau island, off Sumatra, H. Agus Tjahjono, director of exports of mining products at the trade ministry told Reuters. It is the first tin export licence given to a smelter outside the Bangka-Belitung islands, the country’s main source for tin. The total volume of tin approved for export by the ministry in the eleven months to November 2008 was 84,356 tonnes, although only four companies had metal checked for shipment in November. Most independent smelters are currently closed, although some will re-open in January.
The new mining law defines the authority that central, provincial and local governments has over mining operations and lists several metals and minerals, including tin, as being of strategic importance. Under the new regulation, mining companies operating in so-called state reserve areas must allocate 10 percent of their net profits to the government, 4 percent of which will go to the central government and 6 percent to local administrations. Over a five year period producers of these metals will be required to produce refined metal in Indonesia, rather than exporting concentrates. This has already been a requirement for tin since 2002.
The new law will also abolish contracts of work under which foreign mining companies operate in Indonesia, although existing contracts will be honoured. The only COW existing in tin is that for PT Koba Tin, which continues to 2013.
