Off The Wire
Freeport Indonesia to start smelter construction mid-2020 -spokesman
* The Indonesian unit of Freeport-McMoRan Inc is
aiming to
start construction of a copper smelter in mid-2020, PT Freeport
Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama told reporters on Wednesday
* Pratama said the smelter is scheduled to start production
late
in 2023, with input capacity of 2 million tonnes of copper
concentrate
* Freeport agreed to build a copper smelter in Indonesia
within
five years of closing a deal last December with the Indonesian
government on the operatorship of the giant Grasberg copper mine
* Meanwhile, Freeport Indonesia plans to request an
additional
export quota, Pratama said on Wednesday, without disclosing the
amount. Freeport currently has a one-year permit to export
198,282 wet tonnes of copper concentrate.
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina; editing by Richard Pullin)
Reuters Messaging: fransiska.nangoy.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))