Indonesia cracks down on illegal nickel exports to China as experts urge price protection for miners

China received at least 5.3 million tonnes of nickel from Indonesia between January 2020 and June 2022, customs data showed

Experts call for the government to tighten the monitoring of exports, and make the price of nickel ore sold domestically more competitive to stop illegal trading

3-MIN READ3-MIN

A dump truck loads raw nickel ore at a nickel mining site in South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:46pm, 6 Jul 2023Updated: 10:05pm, 6 Jul 2023

As Indonesia considers introducing fines for nickel firms that are allegedly illegally exporting raw nickel to China despite Jakarta’s blanket ban on such trade, experts say officials should study the underlying causes for producers’ action instead of focusing on punitive measures.

Indonesia’s powerful Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) said this week that Chinese customs data showed it had received at least 5.3 million tonnes of nickel from Indonesia between January 2020 and June 2022, with the shipments valued at around 14.5 trillion rupiah (US$963 million).

“How did illegal exports of up to millions of tonnes occur in 2.5 years?” Rachmat Gobel, deputy speaker of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, asked on Monday.

“This is a very serious matter,” he added. “Indonesia is a country of laws. This also goes against the president’s policy on downstreaming.”

Nirwala Dwi Heryanto, a spokesman for the finance ministry’s customs and excise department, said smugglers of nickel could face a 20-year prison sentence and fines totalling 100 million rupiah.