Activities at a nickel mining site in Indonesia (Photo: Jakartapost) Jakarta (VNA) – Chinese investors are seeking to expand theirbusiness in Indonesia by doubling their investment in nickel processing to 35billion USD by 2033.
Chinese steel and battery companies operating in Indonesia met with thecountry’s Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs LuhutPandjaitan during his recent visit to China’s Yunnan province, the minister’sspokesman Jodi Mahardi said.
Among the projects discussed was a plan by China’s Contemporary AmperexTechnology Co Ltd and Ningbo Lygend Mining Co to create an integrated lithiumbattery production facility. This would be their largest facility in the world.
The companies, along with others including Tsingshan Holding Group and DelongHoldings, currently have around 16 billion USD invested in Indonesia. The fourfirms made a commitment to increasing their collective investment to around20.9 billion USD by 2024, and some 35 billion USD by 2033.
They will collaborate with investors from France,Japan, Republic of Korea, Australia and other countries, Jodi said.
Indonesia, a major nickel ore producer, is keen to expand as a nickelprocessing hub, starting from steel, to extracting battery grade chemicals fromthe ore, and eventually producing batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) andbuilding EVs.
A group of Indonesian state-owned companies are planning to form a ventureto make batteries for EVs, the chief executive of Mining Industry Indonesiasaid, and the new company would partner with Chinese and Korean firms onprojects valued at 12 billion USD.
Indonesia was the largest nickel ore exporter until it stoppedexports in January to ensure there were enough raw materials for investors touse in the country./.
VNA
