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Events/Law or policy · 2020

Indonesia bans nickel ore exports

Law or policy, January 2020, Indonesia.

What happened

Indonesia banned exports of nickel ore in January 2020 to push miners to sell to domestic processors. USGS says the ban was reinstated two years earlier than announced. The EU challenged it at the WTO (DS592).1,2,3,4

Why it matters

USGS says the aim was to make miners sell to domestic processors and build smelters in Indonesia.1,2,3,4

Story cards

Around the same time

  1. Indonesia bans nickel ore exports

    USGS records a nickel-ore export ban in force from 2020 to require domestic processing.5

  2. Indonesia ferronickel exports reach USD 14 billion

    USGS records ferronickel exports of USD 14 billion in 2022, up from USD 5 billion in 2020.5

  3. Indonesia mines 2.6 Mt of nickel

    USGS estimates Indonesian mine output at 2.6 million tonnes of contained nickel in 2025.6

Open the full timeline

Where next

Mines

An example ofWeda BayWeda Bay commissioned a ferronickel smelter in 2020 with 300,000 t a year capacity.7An example ofSorowakoThe ban aimed to make miners sell to smelters in Indonesia, like PT Vale's matte at Sorowako.1

Sources

  1. The Mineral Industry of Indonesia in 2020-2021 US Geological Survey
  2. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2020: Nickel US Geological Survey
  3. Indonesia: Measures relating to raw materials (DS592) panel report, annex World Trade Organization
  4. Jakarta (item Q3630), coordinate location P625 Wikidata
  5. 2022 Minerals Yearbook: Indonesia [Advance Release] U.S. Geological Survey
  6. Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Nickel U.S. Geological Survey
  7. Minerals Yearbook 2020-21, volume III: The Mineral Industry of Indonesia US Geological Survey

From the Prospector Trails mining history dataset: each fact links to the source it was checked against. Figures are as the source gives them, in the money of their day. Not investment advice.

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Pictures: Chiquicamata Mine, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Escondida Mine, Chile, NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)); Salar de Atacama, Chile, NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team (Public domain (NASA media, no copyright)).