President Jokowi: Bauxite Downstreaming, Step towards Indonesia as Industrial Country
President Joko Widodo inaugurates the First Bauxite Injection of the Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) of PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia in Mempawah Regency, West Kalimantan Province, Tuesday (09/24). (Photo: YouTube Screenshot of Bureau of Press, Media, and Information (BPMI) of the Presidential Secretariat)
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo inaugurated the First Bauxite Injection of the Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) of PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia in Mempawah Regency, West Kalimantan Province, Tuesday (09/24). In his remarks, President Jokowi emphasized the importance of downstreaming natural resources in order to end raw material exports that have been going on since the VOC (a colonial Dutch company) era.
President Jokowi said that developed countries have so far benefited greatly from importing Indonesian raw materials, while Indonesia itself has not been able to develop optimally. He added that by taking advantage of the global geopolitical situation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic recession, Indonesia now has a great opportunity to build its domestic industry without external interference.
“The construction of this smelter is our effort to prepare Indonesia to transform into an industrial country, by processing our own natural resources and no longer exporting raw materials. Let’s stop exporting raw materials and process them ourselves because the added value will be enjoyed by our community, our country,” said President Jokowi.
In his remarks, the President also highlighted Indonesia’s success in increasing the added value of products such as nickel. Before 2020, raw nickel exports only generated US$1.4 to 2 billion, but after the implementation of the policy of stopping raw material exports, the added value jumped to US$34.8 billion in 2023.
Furthermore, President Jokowi said that 56 percent of the domestic aluminum needs of 1.2 million tons is still imported. With the completion of the construction of this smelter, it is expected that aluminum imports can be stopped, saving the country’s foreign exchange by US$3.5 billion per year.
The President also expressed his joy because the integrated aluminum industry ecosystem, from upstream to downstream, has been completed for the first phase. This smelter will process bauxite into alumina, which will then be sent via Kijing Port to Kuala Tanjung for further processing at PT Inalum (a state-owned mining company).
With an investment of Rp16 trillion, President Jokowi expressed hope that this will be the beginning of a new chapter in Indonesia’s industrialization. He also mentioned several other smelter projects, such as in Sumbawa and PT Freeport (a private mining company), which are part of Indonesia’s major efforts to become an industrial country.
At the end of his remarks, the President inaugurated the First Bauxite Injection of SGAR of PT Borneo Alumina Indonesia and expressed his appreciation for the strong spirit and vision in realizing industrialization in Indonesia. (FID/DNS) (TM/LW)
