EUROFER Supports EU Action against Indonesian Nickel Policy
Translator
Ririe Ranggasari
Editor
Laila Afifa
Jumat, 29 November 2019 13:45 WIB
A worker poses with a handful of nickel ore at the nickel mining factory of PT Vale Tbk, near Sorowako, Indonesia, January 8, 2014. REUTERS/Yusuf Ahmad/File Photo
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The European Steel Association (EUROFER) supports the challenge launched by the European Union with the World Trade Organization against Indonesia. The EU filed a complaint against Indonesia's export restrictions on nickel ore policy, on the bases that 55 percent of the raw materials needed by stainless steel mills in Europe are nickel ore.
EUROFER director-general, Axel Eggert said that they "welcome the European Commission's decision against Indonesia to the WTO, in order to protest against the distortive effects of these measures.
The EU argued that the restrictions are a violation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)—notably nickel, iron ore, and chromium—used in stainless steel production by European nations.
Eggert said that Indonesia is sitting on the world’s largest reserves of nickel, accusing it of deliberately stockpiling to increase the competitiveness of the domestic stainless steel industry.
Indonesia banned nickel exports in 2104 before resuming it in 2017. In October, Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chief Bahlil Lahadalia announced a ban on nickel exports starting January 1, 2020.
