Marti, 09 August 2022, now 08:51
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3226 readings
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American manufacturer of electric cars Tesla has signed contracts worth about $5 billion to buy battery materials from Indonesian nickel processing companies, a government minister in Jakarta told CNBC.
Southeast Asia’s largest economy has tried to get Tesla to set up a production facility in the country, which has major nickel reserves.
President Joko Widodo met with the founder of Tesla, Elon Muskat the beginning of this year, to increase investments.
“We are still in constant negotiations with Tesla … but they have started to buy two excellent products from Indonesia,” said Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Pandjaitan, in an interview broadcast on Monday.
He said Tesla has signed a five-year contract with nickel processing companies operating out of Morowali on the island of Sulawesi.
Nickel materials will be used in Tesla’s lithium batteries.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a Reuters email seeking comment.
Indonesia is keen to develop the country’s electric vehicle and battery industries and has halted exports of nickel ore to ensure supply to investors.
The move has successfully attracted investment from Chinese steel giants and South Korean companies such as LG and Hyundai.
However, most investment in nickel to date has been for the production of crude metal such as nickel and ferric pig iron.
The government plans to impose export taxes on these metals to raise revenue while encouraging more domestic production of higher-value products, a senior official told Reuters last week.
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