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.

We can safely say that South Korea is right behind China in terms of scale of investment in the development of nickel-to-EV ecosystem in Indonesia. Started out by assembling plant of Hyundai and EV battery joint venture between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution, we have seen growing investments from South Korean companies in nickel processing.

In Southeast Asia, consumer enthusiasm for electric vehicles is rising, attracting established Chinese giants such BYD and SAIC, as well as startups like Neta, as quoted on chinadaily.com. Chinese carmakers, in addition, have chosen to partner with local companies as they explore opportunities in overseas markets.

Nickel firm Merdeka Battery Materials (MBMA), subsidiary of gold producer Merdeka Copper Gold (MDKA), is collaborating with a subsidiary of the Chinese company GEM Co Ltd (GEM) in building an HPAL smelter with a capacity of 30,000 tons of nickel in the form of Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP) per year. MHP is precursor for the production of electric vehicle (EV) battery. 

East Kalimantan is the second largest exporter in the country, mainly because of its natural gas, thermal coal, and palm oil. In the past few years, however, some have developed nickel smelters in the energy-rich province. Relatively quiet in the national media, PT Kalimantan Ferro Industry (KFI) has just inaugurated the first phase of its nickel smelter in Sanga-Sanga, Kutai Kartanegara, East Kalimantan province with estimated investment of Rp30 trillion.

Early last month, Infineon Technologies AG, market leader for power semiconductors, announced expansion of its facilities in Kulim, Malaysia with the construction of the world’s largest 200-milimeter SiC (silicon carbide) Power Fab to anticipate the growing trend of decarbonization worldwide.