Like Musk, nickel-rich Indonesia has lofty electric car ambitions – #Musk #nickelrich #Indonesia #lofty #electric #car #ambitions
JAKARTA, Feb 6 (Reuters) – Indonesia, which has the world’s largest nickel reserves and a ban on exports of nickel ore, which uses the metal extensively for electricity car makes itself indispensable for the industry.
In just three years, Indonesia has partnered with manufacturers such as Hyundai Motor ( 005380.KS ), LG Group ( 003550.KS ) and Foxconn ( 2317 ) to produce batteries and electric cars in the country worth 15 billion has signed more than ten contracts worth more than USD. T).
The next most valuable in the world car There is mammoth Tesla Inc (TSLA.O), the manufacturer. President Joko Widodo has taken every opportunity to convince CEO Elon Musk to build electric cars or batteries in the sprawling Southeast Asian archipelago.
“I am very confident that this industry will grow rapidly, develop very rapidly,” said Jokowi, popularly known as Jokowi the president in an interview last week.
USA According to the Geological Survey, Indonesia’s proven nickel reserves are only 21 million tons. That’s about a quarter of the world’s reserves.
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According to the International Nickel Research Group, the country last year january– produced 1.4 million tons of nickel in November. This leaves the second largest producer, the Philippines, which produced 290,000 tons in the same period and 2018More than double Indonesia’s production of 606,000 tons in 2016.
Jokowi 2020banned exports of nickel ore but allowed exports of higher-value nickel products – forcing companies to refine and produce onshore.
Indonesia’s refined nickel exports in 2015 were about 1 billion 30 in 2022 from the dollar billion increased more than dollars.
According to the International Energy Agency, Indonesia is expected to account for half of global production growth in nickel between 2021 and 2025, as demand for electric cars increases. Every car Uses up to 40 kg of nickel.
“The Indonesian government is building an entire value chain to serve electric vehicle factories,” said Victor Chin, senior adviser at metal consulting firm CRU.
“So it makes sense for Tesla to consider Indonesia for both the gigafactory and car manufacturing,” he said.
Musk’s goal is in 2030 20 million electric vehicles, which is 15 times more than Tesla’s 1.3 million vehicles sold in 2022. For this, it needs to build seven or eight more “gigafactories” – facilities that produce electric cars. large scale batteries – on average every 12 months or so. read more
Indonesia has equally ambitious goals – Jokowi said in an interview that if the country succeeds in building an electric vehicle ecosystem, nickel exports could rise from pre-ban levels of about $1 billion. 20It can increase by 0 times. Brazilian miner Vale ( VALE3.SA ) predicts demand for nickel will rise 44% by 2030 from 2022 levels due to high demand for batteries intended for electric vehicles.
Jokowi did not give a timeline for the increase in exports, but said Indonesia aims to build an integrated supply chain for electric vehicle batteries by 2027.
In other moves, Indonesia will also ban exports of copper ore and bauxite, both used in electric car production, in June.
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Nickel export ban European Union in the World Trade Organization by protest was done. Although the WTO ruled in favor of the EU, Indonesia appealed.
But Indonesia’s success has already prompted other countries to follow its lead, with the Philippines allowing nickel ore exports to encourage miners to invest in processing. tax plans to put
Industrial development in Indonesia is a pet project for Jokowi. He took it upon himself to convince Musk to invest in Indonesia by negotiating with the Tesla boss twice.
Last week, Jokowi even granted Tesla a concession for nickel mining to invest in the country and tax concessions offer he said that he did and that he was sure that the agreement would be concluded.
Although Tesla is looking for additional production centers, no firm in Indonesia has commented on its plans. South Korea, Canada and Mexico are also trying to lure the automaker.
A government official said the company has about 5 billion with companies in Indonesia dollars signed nickel supply contracts worth.
One area of concern for potential investors is the environmental impact of the nickel mining industry and Indonesia’s use of coal for power generation.
The process that makes nickel suitable for EV batteries has a high carbon footprint and creates waste that environmentalists fear will end up in the ocean.
Analysts say global automakers are disinvesting from Indonesia due to limited alternatives and growing demand.
“There is not enough nickel capacity expansion outside of Indonesia. Indonesian nickel production has increased its share from 20% to 50% over the past four years,” said ANZ’s Soni Kumari.
Kumari, even buyers from developed markets that are more aware of sustainability credentials will be forced to buy from Indonesia.
“As demand for battery-grade nickel continues to grow, battery and automotive companies cannot afford to ignore (criticism) that ‘Indonesian nickel is not green enough’ when most of the future growth will come from Indonesia,” he said.
Reporting by Francisca Nangoy, Gayatri Suroyo and Bernadette Christina in Jakarta, Mai Nguyen in Hanoi; Writing by A. Ananthalakshmi; Edited by Raju Gopalakrishnan
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
2023-02-06 11:01:22
Source – reuters
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