Indonesian exports of nickel and bauxite concentrates prohibited

Exports of Indonesian nickel and bauxite concentrates are prohibited under a new mineral export ban which came into effect on Sunday and regulations passed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono do not change that, said a senior government official. The president in a last-minute regulation late Saturday allowed the exports of copper, lead, zinc, iron ore and manganese concentrate to continue despite the ban. "Minerals that have to be refined before export are bauxite, nickel, tin, chromium, gold and silver because they don't have intermediate products," Sukhyar, director general of coal and minerals at the ministry, told Reuters.