Weda Bay Nickel halts ore production after mining quota runs out

The Indonesian unit of Eramet has halted nickel ore production after a government decision to slash its 2026 mining quota by 70% compared to last year left it unable to continue operating, the company’s chief executive said on Thursday.

Weda Bay Nickel, Eramet’s nickel mining joint venture in Indonesia with China’s Tsingshan Group and state miner Antam, received an initial production allowance of 12 million wet metric tons for this year, down from the 42 million tons it produced in 2025, part of the government’s efforts to better control supplies and support prices.

“The mining quota has been exhausted, so now we are in discussion with the mining ministry to get an extension of our permit,” Eramet Indonesia’s chief executive Jerome Baudelet told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

Production has been suspended since late May and the company has reduced its workforce and entered into a maintenance phase.

Baudelet said revisions to mining quotas, also known as RKAB, were typically made before the end of July.

“We produced 42 million (tons) last year, so obviously we could ask for the same,” he said, adding that it was ultimately the government’s decision.

“We just hope they will give us enough for us to sustain the operation,” Baudelet said.

The 42 million tons of nickel ore supplied by Weda Bay Nickel last year accounted for about a third of the 120 million tons processed at Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park, one of Indonesia’s major nickel hubs.

“If we don’t get an extension, then you have a deficit of 30 million tons from Weda Bay Nickel,” Baudelet said.

“If you cut production and you don’t give an extension, imports from the Philippines are going to increase a lot because there’s not enough ore around IWIP … it will be high cost.”

(By Bernadette Christina; Editing by David Stanway)