he government is stepping up efforts to build a domestic rare earth industry and keep the processing of the valuable minerals onshore, despite recent export delays caused by tighter scrutiny of rare earth content in commodities such as nickel cathode and nickel pig iron (NPI).<\/p>\n
Experts, however, cautioned that low concentrations of rare earth elements and the technical challenges of extracting them could undermine the economic viability of developing the industry.<\/p>\n
In July, more than 100 shipments were delayed at Indonesian ports due to a mandatory testing program screening mineral shipment for rare earth content, despite the lack of clear government guidelines on acceptable levels.<\/p>\n
Chief of Staff Dudung Abdurachman clarified on Aug. 3 that the export of rare earth elements as primary products is indeed prohibited. However, this does not automatically apply to rare earth elements found as \u201caccompanying elements or byproducts\u201d in primary and derivative mining products.<\/p>\n
The bottlenecks prompted the government to begin mapping associated mineral content across various downstream products, a step intended to safeguard investment continuity while preparing a more targeted regulatory framework for rare earths.<\/p>\n
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