US electric car maker Tesla Inc. has signed a $5 billion deal to buy nickel products from two Indonesian producers.
” The contracts are applicable for five years with two companies operating in the regency of Morowali (province of Central Sulawesi). Nickel materials will be used for Tesla’s lithium batteries said the Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, during a virtual discussion.
Indonesia, one of the world’s largest nickel producers, is seeking to play a leading role in the electric vehicle battery industry. The country has courted Tesla to invest in the nickel industry and supply batteries for electric vehicles in Indonesia.
As of January 2020, Indonesia had 72 million tonnes of nickel ore reservesaccording to data from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.
This represented 52% of the total quantity of nickel ore in the world. The country’s nickel production reached 2.47 million tons in 2021.
Pandjaitan said the Indonesian government would continue to approach Tesla, hoping the company would establish an electric vehicle maker in the country.
” We are still in an ongoing negotiation with Tesla “, did he declare.