Indonesia has imported a record volume of nickel ore from the Philippines in April as delays in issuing mining quotas are plaguing the nickel sector in the country, which is world’s biggest producer of the metal.
In April, Indonesia bought around 500 000 metric tons of nickel ore from the Philippines, and it has likely imported a similar amount in May, Reuters reported. This more than doubles March volumes. For the full last year, the figure stood at just 374 454 tons.
Indonesian miners are still struggling with acquiring permits known as RKAB to continue their operations which was delayed by a change in the validity of permits to three years from one year, as well as by miners' pending obligations such as unpaid royalties.
Smelters in Indonesia, mostly operated by Chinese companies, have been rapidly ramping up capacity in recent years, boosting demand for nickel ore but tipping the market balance in surplus territory, which also led to price drops. However, forecasts for a surplus of nickel products this year will likely have to be trimmed due to permits issues in world’s top nickel producer, according to analysts cited by Reuters.
Indonesia's output of nickel pig iron fell to 353,700 tons in the first quarter, which is 4.9% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2023. In 2023, Indonesia produced 193.5 million tons of nickel ore.
Although the Indonesian government increased approvals of mining quotas in the second quarter, volumes still lag expectations and the pace of approvals has remained slow.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief, Rough&Polished
