Tri Winarno, Director General of Mineral and Coal at Indonesia's Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, recently emphasized in Jakarta that no new nickel commodity quotas will be granted beyond meeting the operational needs of smelters facing supply shortages.
ESDM has taken decisive action to reject any blanket increase in national nickel production quotas in order to maintain stability in international commodity markets. Although the restriction is strictly enforced in the mining sector, the government is still providing limited exceptions for domestic smelters currently facing raw material shortages.
ESDM stated that any quota increases allowed to stabilize domestic raw material supply will not be significant in volume.
While implementing this strict policy, the government continues to encourage mining companies that comply with regulatory requirements to submit their Work Plan and Budget (RKAB) revisions before the July 31, 2026 deadline.
This decisive measure by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources also responds to market speculation that nickel quotas could be relaxed or significantly revised after the mid-year review.
Ministry officials again reminded that all new work plan proposals submitted to the government must go through an extremely rigorous regulatory review process before final approval.
Under the legal framework of Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation No. 17 of 2025, mining companies are indeed entitled to apply for adjustments to their RKAB documents after submitting their regular reports for the second quarter, with a deadline of July 31 of the current year. However, the ministry once again emphasized that such revision applications will never be automatically approved without in-depth evaluation.
Written by Cora Ji, jiruyan@mysteel.com
