Copper supply from top world mine threatened as export ban looms

Exports from the world’s second-largest copper mine, in Indonesia, are under threat as a government ban on overseas concentrate shipments is scheduled to come into force from the middle of January. While ministers are rushing to revise the regulations so miners that have committed to build smelters can continue to export ore concentrates, an intermediate product used to make copper, there’s no guarantee that the deadline will be met. The rules as they stand now only permit shipments of refined metal after January 11.