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Indonesia gets tough on mining companies on construction of processing plants
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President Joko Widodo's administration is pushing for mining companies to climb up the value chain and ship value-added intermediate products overseas, as opposed to just the raw mineral that attracts less export revenue.
PHOTO: REUTERS
JAKARTA - In a bold move to ensure mining companies meet their commitments to build processing plants or smelters, Indonesia has decided to impose big fines on them, payable within a month, if they fail to make progress on construction as planned.
The fines could amount to the equivalent of 20 per cent of the value of unprocessed mineral exports - such as nickel ore, raw bauxite and copper - in the past six months.
