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Price not right: ‘Discrimination’ blamed for illegal nickel exports
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The Pomalaa nickel smelter in Kolaka, Southeast Sulawesi, is operated by state-owned metal mining firm PT Aneka Tambang (Antam). (Antam/Antam)
E
xperts believe a disparity between global and domestic prices is what motivated some exporters to flout the country’s nickel export ban by selling to China, and they want the government to make policy changes to address the gap.
The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is investigating nickel trade activity following the discovery of a mismatch between nickel shipment data released by Statistics Indonesia (BPS) and that of China’s General Administration of Customs.
The KPK told the media in late June that China had received some 5.3 million tonnes of nickel ore from Indonesia between January 2020 and June 2022, according to data from the Chinese side. The shipments were worth some Rp 14.5 trillion (US$967 million), detikFinance reported, citing the KPK.
Read also: Ministry denies involvement in alleged illegal nickel ore exports
Experts say the alleged violation of the export ban puts the impetus on the government to resolve the price disparity between the domestic and export market and to strength supervision.
Mirae Asset analyst Rizkia “Darma” Darmawan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that shipping the ore abroad was “more profitable” than selling it at home given the price gap.
The domestic mineral ore benchmark price (HPM) for nickel ore was often around half of the international market price in 2021 and 2022.
