Freeport Indonesia's Smelter to Begin Operations in September 2026

PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) President Director Tony Wenas has announced that the company’s new copper cathode smelter in the Java Integrated Industrial and Port Estate (JIIPE), Manyar, Gresik, East Java, is expected to begin production in September 2026. “Around September it will start production. In August, concentrate processing will begin,” Tony stated in Jakarta on Wednesday evening (17/6).

Due to a landslide in the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) underground mine area on 8 September 2025, Tony noted that the Manyar Smelter has not received sufficient concentrate supply for processing. In the first half of 2026, he revealed that the production capacity of the Grasberg Block Cave mine is at approximately 50 percent.

PT Smelting is Freeport Indonesia’s first smelter and also the first copper smelter in Indonesia. The Manyar Smelter is Freeport Indonesia’s second smelter. Tony said the Manyar Smelter will begin receiving copper concentrate supply in the second half of 2026. He estimates the Manyar Smelter will be able to process 15 percent of the copper concentrate from the GBC mine, with the ramp-up occurring gradually throughout 2026. “That is until the end of the year. So it will be gradual, not immediately 15 percent,” Tony remarked.

Freeport Indonesia is targeting a full 100 percent recovery of production capacity following the landslide incident at the Grasberg Block Cave underground mine on 8 September 2025 by 2028.