(Reuters) – Indonesia is weighing deep cuts to nickel mining quotas and is looking at lowering the amount of ore mined next year to as low as 150 million tons from 227 million this year, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, as the country seeks to support prices.
Indonesia has emerged as one of the world’s biggest producers of nickel products following a 2020 ban on the export of raw nickel that triggered a massive expansion of its domestic processing industry.
Discussions about the size of the potential cut are ongoing within the government, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. In recent months nickel smelters have complained about a shortage of ore, forcing some of them to import from the Philippines.
A director general overseeing mining at Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Indonesia revealed plans in October to manage nickel ore supply and demand to support prices.
“The state must be present to maintain supply and demand. If the supply is ample while demand is low, the price will drop,” mining minister Bahlil Lahadalia told reporters then.
(Reporting by Kanjyik Ghosh.; Editing by Mark Potter)
