Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated PT Freeport Indonesia’s new smelter in the Gresik Special Economic Zone, East Java, this week by touring the facility with top company and government officials and signing the first copper cathode symbolizing the start of production.
Widodo was joined on the tour and inauguration ceremonies by Chairman of the Board Richard Adkerson; President and Chief Executive Officer Kathleen Quirk; and PTFI President Director Tony Wenas.
The smelter is an important part of achieving the government’s efforts to enhance the value of Indonesia’s natural resources by ensuring they are turned into finished products there rather than sold as raw materials to be processed in other countries, Widodo said. The process known as “downstreaming” of mineral production is the key to increasing Indonesia’s global competitiveness and ensuring it is an advanced and independent industrial country.
“The construction of the PT Freeport Indonesia Smelter is our effort to welcome Indonesia to become an advanced industrial country that processes its own natural resources and does not export once again raw materials," Widodo said, adding industrial downstreaming is the foundation of Indonesia's new economy that does not rely on domestic consumption.
"We want to rely on production, productivity from companies, both state-owned and private," he said.
Wenas said completion and operation of the smelter is a fulfillment of PTFI's commitment to the Special Mining Business License, support for the mining downstream program launched by the government and tangible evidence of its contribution to building a more advanced Indonesia.
"Today, we have achieved an important milestone in our journey to becoming an integrated copper mining company from upstream to downstream,” Wenas said. “PTFI operates the world's largest underground mine, the world's largest single-line smelter, and the world's largest producer of copper cathodes, making PTFI the world's largest upstream-downstream integrated mine."
Accompanying the president and Freeport officials during the day were Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Bahlil Lahadalia, Minister of State-owned Enterprises Erick Thohir, Minister of Investment Rosan Roeslani, Acting Governor of East Java Adhy Karyono, Acting Governor of Central Papua Rebecca Haluk, Regent of Gresik Fandi Akhmad Y, and other government officials.