Indonesian President Joko Widodo said the government would soon consider halting the export of unprocessed copper ores, following a similar policy on nickel and bauxite, to encourage domestic processing of raw materials and the country’s industrialization.

After nickel ore exports were banned several years ago, it forced the opening of processing plants in Indonesia. The nickel export value increased from US$1 billion to US$30 billion in 2022

The President expected the country could become a large-scale producer of electric vehicles and power batteries to manufacture high-value-added products.