President Jokowi Inspects Downstream Project at Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery in Mempawah

President Jokowi conducts a direct inspection at the Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) in Mempawah Regency, West Kalimantan, on Wednesday (3/20). (Source: BPMI Setpres/Muchlis Jr)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo Wednesday (3/20) conducted a direct inspection at Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery (SGAR) in Mempawah regency, West Kalimantan province.

During the visit, the Head of State emphasized the importance of building smelters for bauxite, a follow-up step after nickel in Indonesia’s large downstream agenda.

“We are entering bauxite here because bauxite, which is the most abundant, is located in West Kalimantan province,” the President said in his statement to the media after the inspection.

The President also underscored that the main objective of this project is to reduce Indonesia’s dependence on alumina imports, adding that that the alumina produced at SGAR will be sent to Kuala Tanjung to be processed into aluminum.

“I believe this will substitute imports so that our foreign exchange does not go out and we can save even more foreign exchange,” he said.

The President also expressed hope that the SGAR project would be completed by June 2024 and be fully operational by early 2025, while revealing that this industrial integration vision with other sectors, such as the production of electric vehicle components, would involve nickel and copper raw materials.

“This is a big job, a big ecosystem that we want to build. Its body might be made of aluminum, then the EV battery made from nickel will come in. As for copper, it’s for other components, cables, and so on. So, it’s all integrated,” said the President.

Regarding efforts to accelerate smelter construction, the President pointed out that this project is part of an ongoing plan with nickel and copper as components also being developed.

“That’s what we hope for so that everything is efficient, and the goods are competitive and can compete with goods from other countries. That’s the goal,” the President remarked. (BPMI SETPRES/AIT) (AS/EP)