Smelter Downstreaming Push: KESDM Posts Rp56 Trillion in Mining PNBP

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Directorate General of Mineral and Coal (Minerba) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (KESDM) said that the realisation of mining sector non-tax state revenue (PNBP) up to 15 May 2026 reached Rp56 trillion, up 6.21 percent year on year. Director General of Mineral and Coal Tri Winarno said the revenue increase was driven by the downstreaming programme through the operation of several smelters that are part of the MIND ID ecosystem. ‘Specifically for the copper smelter of PT Freeport at Java Integrated Industrial and Ports Estate (JIIPE) in Gresik, East Java, its presence is one of the important milestones to strengthen the domestic copper concentrate refining capacity,’ Tri said, quoted from his statement in Jakarta on Friday. In a public hearing with Commission VII of the House of Representatives, Tri said that the PNBP realization for January-April 2026 had previously stood at Rp48.95 trillion before rising in mid-May 2026. He added that three smelter projects have been completed and started operating: the smelter owned by PT Aneka Tambang Tbk in Pomalaa, PT Vale Indonesia Tbk in Sulawesi, and PT Freeport Indonesia’s copper smelter in Gresik. Overall, the government notes there are 14 integrated smelters in the national mineral downstreaming programme, consisting of six nickel smelters, six bauxite smelters, one copper smelter, and one iron smelter. Of the total, five smelters have been completed and nine are still in the completion stage. The government notes total investments in the smelter programme have reached USD 7.8 billion. Tri said the capacity of the formed mineral processing industry is also significant. He noted integrated nickel smelters have input capacity of 24.9 million tonnes per year with an output capacity of 924,780 tonnes per year. Meanwhile, the copper smelter has an input capacity of two million tonnes per year with an output capacity of 460 thousand tonnes of cathode per year. As for the bauxite smelter, input capacity is 19.6 million tonnes per year with alumina production capacity of 7.4 million tonnes per year. ‘These figures show that the backbone of the mineral processing industry is beginning to form,’ Tri said. He added that the government not only focuses on downstreaming from the construction of physical smelters but also ensures the industry operates productively and competitively. ‘The government does not only view downstreaming from the building of physical smelters, but also from operational readiness, raw material continuity, environmental compliance and licensing compliance,’ he added. Member of Commission VII of the DPR, Yusman of the Golkar faction, appreciated the downstreaming achievement and urged the government to explain progress on the nine smelters still under completion. ‘Well, this may require a bit more detailed information on the progress toward completion,’ Yusman said. Likewise, member of Commission VII of the DPR from the National Mandate Party (PAN), Alfont, urged speeding up the completion of the smelters so that their impact on the national economy would be greater. ‘How can we drive this, push so that these smelters are completed, production can run, and we can push the economy,’ Alfont said.