Indonesia Extends Raw Mineral Export Bans Beyond Nickel, Bauxite to Rare Earths

JAKARTA, Investortrust.id — Indonesia will double down on its policy of banning raw mineral exports, keeping bans on raw bauxite and copper in place as it seeks to replicate its nickel processing playbook across other critical resources.

Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Bahlil Lahadalia confirmed on Monday that the government will mandate domestic processing for these key industrial metals, while simultaneously laying the groundwork to capture high-value rare earth elements (REEs) from mining byproducts.

The strategy underscores Jakarta's commitment to resource nationalism as an engine for economic transformation. By forcing global buyers to purchase processed materials rather than raw ore, Indonesia aims to move up the industrial value chain, capture higher margins, and create domestic manufacturing jobs in high-tech sectors.

"Looking ahead, I believe there are several commodities where we must maintain the export bans, including bauxite and copper," Lahadalia told reporters at the ministry headquarters in Jakarta.

The former investment minister emphasized that building domestic processing capacity remains the only viable path for the country's broader industrial transition. "To achieve economic transformation, there is simply no alternative—we must build domestic industrial capacity," Lahadalia said, adding that localized refining generates significant multiplier effects across the national economy.

Targeting Rare Earth Elements

Beyond traditional industrial metals, Jakarta is setting its sights on the next frontier of critical minerals: rare earth elements. Crucial for manufacturing high-tech hardware, defense electronics, and electric vehicle components, these elements are often locked inside industrial residues such as bauxite bauxite tailings, nickel slag, and tin processing byproducts.

State mining holding company PT Mineral Industri Indonesia (MIND ID) is actively exploring ways to extract rare earths from these secondary sources. On Friday, August 7, 2026, the company demonstrated its expanding footprint in refined bauxite products, shipping 3,013.5 metric tons of alumina hydroxide and 1,740 metric tons of chemical-grade alumina oxide from Dwikora Port in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, to buyers in South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China.

However, extracting rare earths presents unique regulatory and technological hurdles. Dany Amrul Ichdan, Vice President Director of MIND ID, noted on Monday that elements like cerium and lanthanum often occur in minute concentrations measured in parts per million (ppm).

"The government needs to establish clear and proportional concentration thresholds to distinguish between rare earths as primary minerals versus trace elements within an export commodity," Ichdan said.

Because low concentrations make extraction economically challenging, separation and refining require specialized infrastructure and legal clarity. "If Indonesia can separate rare earths from associated minerals economically and efficiently, then Indonesia effectively becomes a rare earth processing nation," Ichdan added.

To bridge the technology gap, MIND ID is collaborating with the Mineral Industry Agency (BIM) and the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) to draft a national technology roadmap for rare earth processing and refining. The initiative aims to map raw material sources across the archipelago and deploy the precise processing technologies needed for varying ore compositions.