JAKARTA. The Minister of Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, expressed his opinion on the claim of Tesla, Elon Musk’s electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, quitting nickel for EV battery materials.

Pandjaitan’s words were conveyed in a written statement issued yesterday (24/1). “It is not true that Tesla’s factory in Shanghai has utilised 100% LFP for its electric cars. They still utilise nickel-based battery,” he explaind.

Prior to this, the talk about transition of raw materials for EV battery produced by Tesla has gained a lot of tractions, especially after the issue was campaigned by the supporters of Presidential Candidates 01, Anies Baswedan dan Muhaimin Iskandar. They state that nickel downstreaming process in Indonesia does not run smoothly.

Tesla has actually secured a long-term contract with Vale to supply nickel since 2021 instead of quitting nickel and shift to LFP. Said contract was signed to maintain supply and price stability of nickel.

According to IDNFinancials data, the Indonesian government had banned export of nickel ores since early 2020 in order to strengthen domestic downstreaming industry. This ban was said to be one of the reasons behind nickel price surge, hitting the peak a over USD 40,000 per ton in London Metal Exchange (LME) in 2022.

Looking at the past year, the world’s nickel price has dropped significantly. However, in the past 5 years, nickel price has remained stable at USD 16,000 per ton, or back to the point before the price surge seen in 2022. (KR/ZH)