Indonesia Asks China, Korea to Develop Downstream Nickel Industry

The government is in talks with the world's two major electric battery-producing countries, China and South Korea, to develop nickel-processed products with more than 70 percent domestic content. Thus, Indonesia will export finished goods with added value instead of raw goods.

"This has been noticed by other countries, where some of the world's automotive manufacturers are currently seeing the possibility of building car production facilities, charging stations, and battery recycling in Indonesia," Deputy Minister of SOEs Pahala N. Mansury said at the Mining for Better Tomorrow event, Thursday.

Nickel is the primary raw material for electric batteries. Pahala said Indonesia has the largest nickel reserves in the world. "Indonesia has extraordinary reserves, especially the most important commodity for building nickel batteries. Indonesia owns more than 20 percent of the world's nickel reserves," he said.