Industries

Shares of PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk, the largest petrochemical company in Indonesia, opened flat this morning when the company announced a strategic partnership with state-owned aluminium company PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM). 

Insideevs.com recently reported that in Q3 of 2023, Volkswagen Group’s all-electric vehicle sales amounted to about 209,900 units (up 40.5 percent year-on-year), which is a new record – slightly higher than the previous quarter (205,800 units). BEVs accounted for 9.0 percent of the group’s total volume (compared to 6.8 percent a year ago), which is a noticeable progress.

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has reportedly discussed extension of the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train (HST) with China president Xi Jinping this week. This will pave the way for extension of the HST from Bandung to Surabaya, the capital city of East Java, which is also the second largest city in Indonesia.

Indonesia booked trade surplus of US$3.42 billion last month, dropped substantially from US$4.97 billion in the corresponding month of 2022, mainly due to significant correction in thermal coal and palm oil/derivatives, two of the largest export commodities. But compared to August 2023, trade surplus in September grew 9.6%. Year to date, trade surplus reached US$27.75 billion, fell 30.3% year on year (y/y).

Nickel miner Vale Indonesia (INCO), co-owned by Vale-Sumitomo and MIND ID (holding company of state plantations) has reiterated its intention to proceed with some projects with estimated investment of US$10 billion, equivalent to Rp156 trillion, as part of its ambition to become a key player in the electric vehicle battery (EV Battery) ecosystem.

The government of Indonesia has previously hinted moratorium of new investments in nickel processing using RKEF technology to produce lower class of nickel, but will continue to promote higher quality nickel like nickel in matte, nickel sulphate and nickel cathode using HPAL technology. In recent months, we’ve seen more HPAL projects.

Shares of Tesla, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of electric vehicle (EV), ended slightly lower by 0.43% in New York Thursday (Oct 5). Still, the last quoted price means the company’s market capitalization was US$825 billion, three times Toyota Motor...

Indonesian welcomed 1.13 million visits of foreigners in August, inched up 1.02% from July. That means the country has welcomed 7.44 million visits in the first eight months of 2023, jumped 166% from the corresponding period last year. 

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo has on Monday (Oct 2) morning inaugurated the Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train (HST), the first in Southeast Asia. Economics of the train, however, might only improve if it is extended to Surabaya, the capital city of East Java province. Jokowi himself has asked for a feasibility study, but final investment decision might not be in his hands.

Indonesia recorded trade surplus of US$7.04 billion in iron and steel (HS 72) for the first half of 2023, down by 5.7% from the corresponding period last year, but mainly because of falling average price of steel worldwide. The country’s trade surplus in iron and steel could grow further in the coming years.