JAKARTA. Bauxite mining company PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk (CITA)\nhas affirmed that it is not involved in the practice of selling bauxite\nto smelters at prices below the Benchmark Mineral Price (HPM) set by the\nMinistry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM).<\/p>\n
CITA Director Yusak Lumba Pardede said the company currently\nmaintains a bauxite sales agreement with PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina\nRefinery (WHW) through a business-to-business (B2B) scheme.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe currently have a sales agreement with WHW based on a B2B scheme.\nSo far, CITA has secured a reasonably good price for its bauxite sales,\u201d\nYusak said during an online public presentation on Friday (16\/5).<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Yusak noted that cross-ministerial coordination is\nstill needed to ensure the implementation of HPM in the bauxite sector\ncan function optimally. He said synergy between the Ministry of Energy\nand Mineral Resources, the Ministry of Industry, the Investment\nCoordinating Board (BKPM), and industry players is essential.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere needs to be good coordination between the Ministry of\nIndustry, BKPM, and industry players to ensure the HPM pricing is\nproperly implemented,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Yusak explained that the HPM fundamentally serves as an\nimportant basis for the government in determining royalty rates for\nmineral and coal commodities. He therefore emphasised that industry\nplayers generally comply with these provisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think any company or industry player deliberately ignores\nthe HPM. But synchronisation is indeed needed. We hope for a win-win\nsolution between miners and smelters,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Previously, the Indonesian Bauxite Association (ABI) reported the\npractice of bauxite purchases by several domestic smelters below the\nHPM. This situation was deemed detrimental to miners, particularly since\nthe ban on raw bauxite exports was imposed in 2023.<\/p>\n
ABI Chairman Ronald Sulistyanto revealed that prices not aligned with\nthe HPM have caused many mining operators to halt production. \u201cAccording\nto our records, out of 69 mining operators, only around 15 to 20 are\nstill in production,\u201d Ronald said on Sunday (4\/5).<\/p>\n
Ronald added that in the domestic market, WHW is one of the smelters\noffering prices closer to the HPM. \u201cWHW still provides some price\nflexibility, but most of the others are still below the HPM,\u201d he\nconcluded.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cita-mineral-investindo-denies-selling-bauxite-below-government-benchmark-price-1771242178", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }