Indonesia weighs deep cuts to nickel mining to boost prices

Indonesia is considering deep cuts to nickel mining quotas as it seeks to boost slumping prices of the battery metal, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry is looking at lowering the amount of nickel ore allowed to be mined next year to 150 million tons. That would be a sharp drop from 272 million tons this year.   

Discussions about the size of the potential cut are ongoing within the government, the people said.  Any move to significantly constrain output would likely be opposed by the finance and investment ministries due to the hit to tax revenue, and would also risk having a chilling impact on investment in the country’s nickel sector.

• [Editor:邢亚敏]