Govt may relax 2014 ore export ban

The government has said that it will probably allow some exports beyond the 2014 deadline to allow more time for processing plants to be built in Indonesia.

?There will be some room for maneuver,? Deputy Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Rudi Rubiandini said in an interview as quoted by Jakarta Post. ?It won?t be fully enforced in 2014 as it wouldn?t be fair to the companies,? he said, declining to be more specific.

As many as 30 smelters may be built to process nickel, bauxite and iron ore, out of proposals received so far by the ministry said Rudi.

While ?we?re bound by the law?, the ministerial regulation was issued only this year, Rudi said on Wednesday. He was referring to the rule on shipments that was issued in February and came into force in May. That?s three years after the nation?s 2009 Mining Law was passed, leaving only two years before the 2014 ban becomes effective.

He said that the smelters would be clustered in four regions near the sources of so-called primary energy resources to cut costs. They were Halmahera Island, Balikpapan in East Kalimantan , South Sulawesi and East Java.(*)