Kontan are reporting on a release from Reuters that Tesla has signed contracts worth around USD 5-billion to buy materials for their EV batteries from nickel processing companies in Indonesia.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has been trying to get Tesla to set up a production facility in Indonesia, which has major nickel reserves. President Jokowi met with Tesla Founder, Elon Musk, earlier this year to drum up investment and according to reports at the time, the meetings were successful.
“We are still in constant negotiations with Tesla … but they have started buying two excellent products from Indonesia,” said Luhut Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs. He went on to say that Tesla had signed a five-year contract with nickel processing companies operating out of Morowali in Sulawesi. The nickel will be used in Tesla’s lithium batteries.
According to Reuters, Tesla did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Indonesia is keen to develop EV’s and electric battery industries at home and stopped the export of nickel ore to ensure supply for investors. The move has successfully attracted investments from Chinese steel giants and South Korean companies including LG and Hyundai.
To date, most nickel investment has been in the production of crude metal such as nickel pig iron and ferronickel. The government plans to impose export taxes on these metals to boost revenue while encouraging more domestic production of higher-value products, say Reuters.
Sources: Reuters, Kontan
