Column: Electric dreams turn into a nightmare for battery metals
A sector that was once racing to build new supply has been closing mines and deferring projects as low prices bite into the cost curve.
Indonesia announced a joint venture with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. to invest $1.2 billion in battery production in the Southeast Asian country, furthering its ambitions to become a global hub for electric vehicles.
The Chinese cellmaking giant, through its subsidiary CBL International Development, formed the venture with government-owned Indonesia Battery Corporation, the companies said in a statement. The project in Karawang, West Java, aims to scale up battery production to 15 gigawatts a year.
The move marks an important step toward Indonesia’s goal to build out a complete supply chain for electric vehicles, a key aim launched by outgoing President Joko Widodo. The government has looked to leverage its vast production of nickel, a key ingredient for some batteries, to draw in foreign investors to the EV sector.
Earlier this year Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution Ltd. opened the first-ever battery cell plant in the country, while China’s BTR New Material Group launched an anode material plant.
(By Eddie Spence)
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