Unlike nickel, which has attracted over US$10 billion of investments in the past seven years or so, Indonesia has only few investors entered the bauxite processing into alumina. The first, a chemical grade alumina (CGA) smelter, was built by state mining company Aneka Tambang (ANTM), whilst failures to bring it to design capacity almost one decade after completion.

Indonesia initially expected Tesla Inc to make the country as its production base for electric vehicle (EV). Tesla, unfortunately, preferred to build its second production base overseas after China in India instead. It is not a secret that Indonesia expected Tesla to at least join the country’s bid to become key global supplier for EV batteries. 

President Joko Widodo inspected construction of Semarang-Demak (26.7 KM) toll road on Friday (June 11). The toll road, built with public private partnership (PPP) scheme, is the first in Indonesia to act as a seawall along the coastline, a buffer against flooding that normally hits the area. PT Pembangunan Perumahan Semarang Demak, a subsidiary of state EPC firm PTPP, is main investor of the toll road.

Improved connectivity in the Greater Jakarta has lifted prospects of new township projects in the south such as Cibubur, Cimanggis (Agung Podomoro Land), Sentul (Ciputra Development), Ciawi (Summarecon), and Lido (MNC Land). Prospects of other property development projects in satellite cities located in Banten and West Java provinces will also improve with significant progress in the second Jakarta Outer Ring Road (JORR-2). 

North Maluku has transformed itself from a poor province to become one of the world’s largest nickel production centers. The province increasingly plays an important role in the electric vehicle and stainless steel ecosystem with commercial operation of new smelters producing nickel sulphates and nickel pig iron (NPI)/ferronickel.

Minister of investment Bahlil Lahadalia confirmed US$1.2 billion battery cell investment by South Korea-Indonesia consortium in Sinarmas Group’s Deltamas City, Bekasi, West Java. It is closer to Hyundai’s project in the same location, which will be the first electric vehicle manufacturing facility in Indonesia. 

Indonesia recorded trade surplus of US$2.19 billion last month, lifting the surplus to US$7.7 billion in the first four months of 2021. Higher volume and average price of commodities and processed metals contributed to strong export growth in the period. Iron and steel continues to report impressive growth, resulting in total export of US$5.3 billion in the first four months of 2021.

So, some states in India have reportedly returned to Ivermectin to help manage their Covid-19 outbreaks even as experts and international institutions, including US FDA and World Health Organization (WHO), warn against doing so. In Indonesia, ministry of health (MOH) yet to recommend the drug, but some high-ranking officials are actively campaigning it. 

Physical construction progress of some mass transportation and toll road projects suggests an improved outlook of the country’s connectivity whilst land acquisition issues here and there. The country is set to accelerate post-pandemic with completion of some projects next year.

Three months after witnessing FrieslandCampina kicking off construction of US$268 million factory in Karawang, West Java province, we will likely see construction start of Nestle’s US$220 million expansion this week. Nestle, one of the world’s giants in food & beverage industry, plans to kick off construction of new factory over a 20-hectare land in Batang Regency, Central Java.