Jokowi Persuades Australia PM for Lithium – Nickel Cooperation

Indonesia President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) persuaded Australia Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to produce electric car batteries in Indonesia. Jokowi sees the possibility of this cooperation based on the potential of Australia lithium and Indonesia nickel. He stated this to Albanese when delivering the closing speech for B20 Summit Indonesia in Bali (14/11/2022).

“I only offered Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, in Australia there is lithium, we have nickel. When combined, it becomes an electric car battery. I asked Prime Minister Albanese for the lithium to be brought to Indonesia alone, we will do it together with the downstream program in Indonesia,” said Jokowi.

According to money.kompas.com, Jokowi discussed plans to realize the downstream program for mining commodities owned by Indonesia. He wants Indonesia to stop exporting raw materials and try to process the material themselves, so it can have more added value. One way to do this is through a downstream program for nickel, which is an important component in the production of electric vehicle batteries.

“Indeed we have to stop (exports of raw goods) to get added value in the country, both related to revenue for the country, both related to job creation, and we have started with nickel in order to build a large ecosystem, namely batteries for electric cars,” explained Jokowi.

Reported by cnnindonesia.com, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Panjaitan said Indonesia was ready to produce batteries for 3 million electric vehicles. He disclosed this when explaining plans to develop the new energy area Kaltara Industrial Estate at the 4th Indonesia Fintech Summit (IFS) 2022.

“In the past we only exported this (nickel ore), now we are here (iron and steel), later we will be here (batteries for electric vehicles). In the third quarter of 2024 we will produce lithium batteries,” said Luhut (10/11/2022).

According to BKPM data, Indonesia has 30 percent of the world’s nickel reserves or 21 million tons. Nickel can be found in various regions, such as East Halmahera in North Maluku, Morowali in Central Sulawesi, Obi Island in North Maluku, and Gag Island in the Raja Ampat Islands.