Govt to issue rulings on tin, rubber exports Thursday
Adianto P Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Trade and industry minister Rini M. Soewandi said that her ministry would issue new rulings on tin and rubber exports on Thursday.
"I'm going to sign them (the new rulings) on Thursday. We are now at the stage of adding the finishing touches," Rini told reporters on Monday after a meeting with a visiting trade delegation from the Netherlands.
Rini declined to provide further details.
The new ruling on tin exports will replace the existing ministerial decree No.146/1999, which permitted the export of tin concentrate, and represents part of a bid to help curb rampant illegal tin mining, which only produces concentrate.
Ferry Yahya, director of agriculture and mining exports at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, had earlier said that the government might designate tin as a strategic commodity the trading of which would be supervised by the ministry.
"Another alternative would be to authorize only certain exporters in respect of tin exports," he said.
State-owned tin mining company PT Timah has repeatedly blamed rampant illegal mining at its mining sites on Bangka and Belitung islands for causing a plunge in tin prices as the illegal miners produce an output that is almost equal to Timah's annual tin production of 40,000 tons.
According to Timah, there are 6,000 groups of illegal miners on the islands producing a total output of 30,000 tons per annum.
Since the middle of 2001, tin prices have fallen to US$3,630 per ton, the lowest level in the last three decades, while Timah's production cost stands at about $4,200 per ton.
Meanwhile, the new ruling on rubber exports is aimed at reducing the export of rubber products in a bid to boost sagging prices.
Reports said earlier that the government would cut 2002 exports by 10 percent to some 1.23 million tons.
The government earlier also said that it would cut rubber output by 60,000 tons this year and 75,000 tons next year through replanting old rubber plantations, prohibiting the expansion of the area under rubber and switching to the cultivation of other crops.
The plan forms part of a tripartite agreement with Thailand and Malaysia to cut output by 4 percent per year over the next two years.
Indonesia is the second largest rubber producer in the world after Thailand with a total output of 1.55 million tons last year.
Meanwhile, some 36 Dutch businessmen met with Rini to discuss business and investment opportunities here.
The trade mission, led by Netherlands Minister of Foreign Trade Gerrit Ybeme, is here on a 3-day visit and will meet with a number of ministers.
"We (Indonesia and the Netherlands) have agreed to improve trade by exploring opportunities in various areas," Rini explained.
She said that the agreement included a commitment by the two countries to bringing down non-tariff barriers.
The 36 companies are involved in shipbuilding, food processing machinery, banking, infrastructure, mining, forestry and fishing, education, and the environmental technology sectors.
The Netherlands is one of Indonesia's most important export destinations and a major aid donor.