Indonesian Coordinating Maritime Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said that Indonesia will spend 4 billion US dollars (about 27.456 billion yuan) to build the world’s largest lithium battery factory

The project, which cost $4 billion, involves investors from South Korea, Japan and China. The developer will begin construction of a lithium battery project in Morowali, Sulawesi, Indonesia on January 11. Pandjaitan said the $4 billion project involved investors from South Korea, Japan and China, but did not specify the company or provide more details about the project. “Indonesia will be a major player in lithium batteries, and the third generation of lithium batteries will start to become cheaper.”

Pandjaitain added. As the automotive market gradually shifts toward electrification, the demand for power batteries has surged. As a major component of lithium-ion batteries, nickel, its producers have begun to pay attention to Indonesia’s large nickel laterite ore reserves. The Morowali plant, where the proposed battery plant is located, currently has 20 nickel ore processing plants, supplying 1.5 million tons of nickel pig iron annually to a stainless steel plant with an annual output of 3 million tons.

China’s battery company GEM AG said at the end of September that it is working with four companies to invest a total of 700 million US dollars (about 480.48 billion yuan) for the production of battery-grade nickel chemicals in Morowali. The project will be carried out in conjunction with the Chinese lithium battery manufacturer Ningde Times and the Chinese stainless steel manufacturer Qingshan Holding Group.