Freeport Indonesia hopes to get copper export permit soon

Copper miner Freeport Indonesia hopes to secure a permit soon to export copper concentrate, after the mining minister approved a revision of its annual business plan, the company’s chief executive said on Thursday.

Freeport is seeking export permission after a fire in October at a gas cleaning unit forced a halt in copper cathode production at a new smelter in Gresik in the province of East Java.

“Our annual business plan has been approved yesterday, hopefully we can get the export recommendation from the mining ministry today,” Tony Wenas, chief executive of Freeport Indonesia, told a parliamentary hearing.

“If it is issued today, we will immediately apply to the trade ministry for an export permit.”

Under its revised business plan, Freeport seeks to export 1.2 million metric tons of concentrate, Wenas said, but the mining ministry has yet to decide the actual export quota.

Mining Minister Bahlil Lahadalia previously said the miner might get an export quota of about 1 million metric tons of concentrate that will be valid for six months after a recommendation is issued.

An official from Indonesia’s mining ministry said they were evaluating the request.

The firm now has 400,000 metric tons of copper concentrate in inventory ready for export upon receiving the permit.

“We have five to six vessels on standby, once the export recommendation is issued hopefully customs would allow us to load the shipment and when the export permit is issued it can sail,” Wenas added.

Freeport had said its mining operation was running at 40% capacity because of rising stockpiles.

The miner has lowered its 2025 target for concentrate output by almost a tenth to 3.29 million tons and is aiming for copper output of 1.67 billion pounds (757,499 metric tons), below last year’s production of 1.8 billion pounds.

Output is expected to drop further in 2026 to 3.15 million tons of concentrate and 1.58 billion pounds of copper.

(By Bernadette Christina and Ananda Teresia; Editing by Martin Petty and Clarence Fernandez)