Freeport Indonesian Unit May Start Exporting Copper Concentrate Wednesday -CEO

                 PT Freeport Indonesia may start exporting copper concentrate on Wednesday after it reached an agreement with the government late last month to resume the exports after a six-month stalemate.

Freeport Indonesia's Chief Executive Rozik Soetjipto said that the local unit of U.S. copper and gold producer Freeport-McMoRan Inc. (FCX) may resume overseas shipments with 10,000 metric tons of the mineral bound for China.

The Indonesian government in January imposed an export ban on unprocessed ores aimed at keeping lucrative refining work within the country. In addition to the ore-export ban, the government in January imposed export duties on mineral concentrates of copper, iron, zinc, and manganese. The duties, which begin at 20%-25%, would rise to 60% before a complete ban on concentrate exports is imposed in 2017.

The government and Freeport Indonesia on July 25 struck a deal allowing the miner to pay lower export taxes as it agreed to build a smelter in Indonesia.

Director General of Coal and Mineral Resources Sukhyar said then that Freeport Indonesia's total copper-concentrate exports are expected to reach 756,300 tons by year-end, with an estimated value of $1.56 billion. - morningstar