..downstreaming must not stop at smelter construction,Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia recorded Rp56 trillion (around US$3.1 billion) in non-tax state revenue from the mineral and coal sector as of May 15, marking a 6.21 percent year-on-year increase, the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry reported.Director General of Mineral and Coal Tri Winarno said that the figure rose from Rp48.95 trillion in the January-April period, supported by five operational smelters out of 14 units planned under the national downstreaming program.He explained that the 14 smelters comprise six nickel facilities, six bauxite plants, one unit for iron, and one copper smelter already operational under PT Freeport Indonesia in Gresik, East Java.“The presence of the copper smelter of PT Freeport within the Java Integrated Industrial and Ports Estate has marked a crucial milestone in strengthening national capacity in copper concentrate purification,” Winarno stated.Other operational smelters include those managed by PT Aneka Tambang and PT Vale Indonesia in Sulawesi, he said, noting that the smelter program has realized investment worth US$7.8 billion. He added that development is still ongoing for the remaining nine smelters.Collectively, the nickel smelters are projected to process 24.9 million tonnes of ore annually and produce 924,780 tonnes of nickel, while the bauxite plants will process 19.6 million tonnes to yield 7.4 million tonnes of alumina.The copper smelter in Gresik has a two-million-tonne input capacity with 460,000 tonnes of cathode output.“These numbers indicate that the foundation of the mineral processing industry is taking shape,” Winarno remarked.He stressed that downstreaming must not stop at smelter construction, citing the government's commitment to operational readiness, raw material supply, environmental safeguards, and regulatory compliance.DPR member Yusman welcomed the advances and asked the government to detail construction progress in the nine unfinished smelters.Another lawmaker, Alfont, urged the government to accelerate smelter development to further strengthen the national economy.