Indonesia plans to start supplying nickel battery material to Tesla in November. The Indonesian Energy Minister Bahlil Lahadalia confirmed that the precursor for the battery will be supplied to the US manufacturer.
According to Reuters, the Energy Minister did not elaborate on the deal in his latest statement, so its value, duration, and volume of material remain unknown. He only confirmed that the recipient of the EV battery precursor will be Tesla.
“We will export precursor to the U.S. by next month to Tesla, from Weda Bay,” he said.
However, in the summer of 2022, a senior Indonesian cabinet minister told Reuters that Tesla had signed contracts worth about $5 billion to purchase material from Indonesian nickel refineries. None of the companies involved responded to requests for comment on the Energy Minister’s statement.
Indonesia has large nickel deposits and is looking to take advantage of this growing demand for batteries. The country wants to further process the material domestically through battery and electric vehicle factories. Indonesia has even temporarily stopped exporting nickel ore to ensure supplies for its own burgeoning industry.
This has led to several companies announcing investments in Indonesia, where they are looking to develop electric mobility projects. Hyundai and LGES opened a battery cell factory in Indonesia this summer. Hyundai opened a car manufacturing plant in the country in 2022. Toyota and BYD have also announced plans to build electric vehicles in the country. A subsidiary of the Chinese battery giant CATL has formed a joint venture with the state-owned Indonesia Battery Corporation (IBC) to advance the establishment of a battery cell manufacturing facility in the country.
Tesla has also been rumored to be interested in a factory in Indonesia, although there is no official confirmation of this.
