Weda Bay Nickel prepares temporary mine shutdown after production quota cut

Nickel miner PT Weda Bay Nickel (WBN) is preparing to temporarily halt mining operations and reduce its workforce after the government sharply lowered the company’s nickel production quota under the 2025 Work Plan and Budget (RKAB).

Jerome Baudelet, CEO of Eramet Indonesia and representative of WBN shareholders, said the company’s production quota was cut to 12 million wet metric tons (wmt) from 42 million wmt previously.

As a result, WBN plans to reduce around 65% of its workforce and contractors, potentially affecting about 10,000 workers in the Weda Bay industrial area in Central Halmahera, North Maluku.

“Workers at Weda Bay Nickel and all contractors total around 18,000 to 19,000 people. From that figure, we will reduce about 65% and that is likely the condition we will face until the end of June,” Jerome said during the Eramet Outlook 2026 media briefing in Jakarta.

Read also: Eramet seeks output quota revision, Weda Bay prepares suspension

Jerome said WBN is preparing to enter a care and maintenance phase, during which mining operations would be temporarily suspended while environmental management activities such as water treatment, land rehabilitation and revegetation continue.

He said most of the remaining production quota had already been used during the first quarter of 2025, forcing mining activities to gradually stop.

The company said it is attempting to reduce the impact of layoffs by reallocating some workers to other industrial projects within the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP), including smelter and aluminum projects that are still under development.

Jerome added that without the RKAB reduction, the Weda Bay area could have generated around 10,000 additional jobs.

WBN is currently seeking a revision of its RKAB from the government in hopes of obtaining additional production quota in the second half of 2026.

The reduction in WBN’s production also raises concerns over nickel ore supply for IWIP, which requires around 100 million tons of nickel ore annually. Lower output from Weda Bay could increase dependence on ore shipments from Sulawesi and imports from the Philippines.

Editing by Alexander Ginting