Nickel Mining in Indonesia U.S. electric car maker Tesla has signed a contract worth about $5 billion to buy battery materials from an Indonesian nickel processing company, a senior cabinet minister told CNBC Indonesia. Indonesia has large reserves of nickel, a key material for making cathodes for rechargeable batteries. The country has struggled to entice Tesla to build a production facility. Earlier this year, President Joko Widodo met with Tesla founder Elon Musk to encourage such investments. “We are still in constant negotiations with Tesla…but they…
U.S. electric car maker Tesla has signed contracts worth about $5 billion to buy battery materials from a nickel processing company in Indonesia, a senior cabinet minister told Reuters. CNBC Indonesia.
Indonesia has large reserves of nickel, a key material for making cathodes for rechargeable batteries. The country has been trying to entice Tesla to build a production facility. Earlier this year, President Joko Widodo met with Tesla founder Elon Musk to encourage such investments.
“We are still in constant talks with Tesla…but they have already started buying two excellent products from Indonesia,” Luhut Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, said in an interview aired on Aug. 8. express.
Nickel from Sulawesi
Tesla has signed a five-year contract with the nickel processing company operating in Morowali, Sulawesi, he said. Nickel materials will be used in Tesla’s lithium batteries.
Tesla has so far not commented on the report.
Indonesia is keen to develop a domestic electric vehicle and battery industry and has halted nickel ore exports to secure supplies for investors. The move has successfully attracted investment from Chinese steel giants as well as South Korean companies including LG and Hyundai.
So far, most of Indonesia’s nickel investment has been in the production of stainless and nickel-alloyed steel, but the battery industry is now the next step.
A senior official told the Indonesian government plans to impose export taxes on the metals to boost revenue while encouraging more domestic production of higher-value nickel products Reuters.
