Indonesia’s Gresik copper smelter has shut down, sources say

Indonesia’s 300,000-tpy-plus Gresik copper smelter in eastern Java has been shut for the past ten days for technical reasons, market sources said.

“The shutdown at Gresik is due to problems with the cooling water system because pipes have broken,” a source familiar with the matter said.

It is not immediately known how long the PT Smelting facility will be out of action, and what impact the shutdown will have on copper output because Indonesia is about to enter its Hari Raya Puasa public holidays, which last from July 17-19.

PT Smelting officials were not available for comment.

Both major shareholders in the project, Freeport and Mitsubishi Material Corp, had not responded to requests at the time of writing.

Mitsubishi Materials Corp has a 60.5% interest, PT Freeport Indonesia has a 25% interest, Mitsubishi Corp Unimetal has a 9.5% stake and Nippon Mining & Metal Co has a 5% stake.

Shivani Singh 
shivani.singh@metalbulletinasia.com
Twitter: @ShivaniSingh_MB