JAKARTA. The government announced that the export ban on nickel or ore will come into force on 1 January 2020, earlier than the planned date. This was done to support the development of electric cars.
The Director-General of Mineral and Coal in the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Bambang Gatot Ariyono, stated that one of the considerations to make the ban come to force earlier is to support the development of the electric vehicle industry.
According to him, the development of technology is now more advanced and able to process low grade nickel into battery components. "In essence, nickel can be used to produce components that can be used as raw materials for batteries in the context of accelerating electric cars development," he said on Monday (2/9). There are even several companies that are interested to be involved in the development of refining facilities with hydrometallurgical technology. (AM/AR)