Nickel Industries seeks investors for Indonesia plant, invites Tesla, Panasonic to visit

Panasonic Holdings

27/11/2023 06:54

* 
      Company building plant to supply EV battery makers
    

        * 
      Tesla, Panasonic, Northvolt visit Indonesian operations
    

        * 
      Hopes to decide on customers by 2H 2024
    

  
       MELBOURNE, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Nickel Industries  NIC.AX 
is inviting electric vehicle and battery makers including Tesla
 TSLA.O  to its Indonesian  facilities as it seeks potential
investors to the plant, the Australian company's chief executive
said on Monday.
    The producer of nickel pig iron is expanding into high
purity nickel for the EV industry and is building a $2.3 billion
plant in Indonesia's Morowali that will supply products such as
nickel sulphate, matte and mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP).
    Nickel Industries owns a 55% stake in the plant, with China
stainless steel maker Tsingshan holding the rest.
    Nickel Industries is seeking investors for a stake of as
much of 20% in the plant as partner Tsingshan dilutes its
holding, CEO Justin Werner said.
    "We would be open to an automaker taking a stake," Werner
told Reuters, adding that Tesla, Panasonic  6752.T  and
Northvolt were among the companies that have visited, or will
soon visit, the Indonesia plant.
    Indonesia produces more than half of the world's nickel and
is expected to account for nearly three-quarters of global
supply by the end of the decade, as EV and battery manufacturers
increase their foothold in the country.  
    U.S. carmaker Ford  F.N  in March took a stake in a $4.5
billion nickel processing plant in Indonesia with PT Vale
Indonesia  INCO.JK  and China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt.
    Nickel Industries' high pressure acid leach (HPAL) plant is
expected to be completed by the end of 2025 and will supply
around 70,000-80,000 tonnes of nickel product per year, Werner
said, adding that the plant expected to sign up customers by mid
2024.
    It will be looking to place some 7,000-8,000 tonnes of MHP,
around 10,000 tonnes of class 1 nickel matte and 30,000-40,000
tonnes of either MHP, cathode, or nickel sulphate, depending on
market conditions, he added.

 (Reporting by Melanie Burton; editing by Miral Fahmy)
 ((melanie.burton@thomsonreuters.com Twitter: @MelanieMetals;
+613 9286 1421; Reuters Messaging:
melanie.burton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))