Indonesia may impose a tax or quota on mineral ore
exports ahead of a planned regulation to ban all exports of raw minerals by
2014, the industry ministry said on Wednesday.
The industry ministry has proposed this as a transition
before the export ban, in a move that could hurt nickel firms INCO and Antam
and copper miners Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold and Newmont Corp.
“Some of the options for transitional regulations are
taxes as high as possible on mining products like iron ore, bauxite, and other
metals like nickel and copper,” the ministry's spokesman Hartono said.
The planned 2014 export ban is part of a mining and coal law
introduced in 2009 that requires miners to process coal and minerals into
higher value products before exporting them, as the country seeks to boost
revenue from the mining sector.
Indonesia, the world's largest tin and thermal coal
exporter, said last month it is looking to revise its royalty payments made on
all domestic tin shipments, to close a tax loophole and bring these in-lines
with existing charges on exports.
Analysts have said a string of recent comments by
politicians to increase resource royalties suggested a rising tide of
nationalism aimed at shoring up domestic political support.
Source: Reuters
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