The Jakarta Post
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsMining investment to fall short by 40 percent this year
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy ministry expected four new smelters to start operations this year.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Set as preferred source
I
nvestment in the mining industry is expected to fall short by US$4.74 billion this year, 40 percent of the initial target, as a result of delays in several smelter projects, the Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Ministry has said.
Lockdowns at various levels applied in many countries around the world to contain the spread of COVID-19 have disrupted material and labor supplies for the projects, adding more issues to developers’ financial problems, said the ministry’s coal director, Sujatmiko.
“Smelter construction will only resume in July 2020,” he said during a webinar hosted by Cerah Foundation on Tuesday.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy ministry expected four new smelters to start operations this year.
However, only two smelters – a ferronickel smelter and lead bullion smelter – are slated for completion in 2020, energy ministry mineral director Yunus Saefulhak told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The remaining two smelters – a nickel pig iron (NPI) smelter and a ferromanganese smelter – have had their expected operational dates pushed back to 2021 from 2020.
“We have to be realistic. We will help those facilities that proceed with their development,” he said, adding that his office continued to find investors and electricity suppliers, among other things, for the delayed smelter projects.
