Fortune Minerals : COBALT NEWS

South China Morning Post - March 27, 2021

As Southeast Asia's biggest vehicle market and a major supplier of nickel, a key battery ingredient, Indonesia sees great potential in ...

vehicle batteries. The others are lithium, manganese and cobalt, the biggest suppliers of which are, respectively, Australia, South Africa

To support this transition, the government plans to replace vehicles with traditional internal combustion engines, with electric vehicles. It will be a massive endeavour in a country with 133 million vehicles, almost all powered by internal combustion engines, in 2019, the latest year for which official data is available…Although a relatively new concept in Indonesia, electric vehicles have long been in the global spotlight and there are now more than 7 million electric vehicles worldwide, nearly half of which are in China…As more countries join the energy transition, the global electric vehicle market is developing rapidly. This can be seen in the increased funding, soft and hard infrastructure to support electric vehicles, public awareness, supply chain management, business schemes and government policies for manufacturers and consumers…As an essential component, the batteries that power electric vehicles is one market expected to grow rapidly. China dominates this market as a manufacturer, with demand increasing from the European Union and the United States. Indonesia, as the world's biggest supplier of nickel, is a key source of one of the main metal ingredients in electric vehicle batteries…The others are lithium, manganese and cobalt, the biggest suppliers of which are, respectively, Australia, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo…In preparation for the developing of an electric vehicle industry in Indonesia, the government has been planning incentives to encourage electric car manufacturers and consumers. But both the industry and the policy are in a nascent stage…Another massive challenge is making available infrastructure support, such as charging stations, maintenance facilities - only available in a few cities - and power generation. Indonesia is in a dilemma as most of its power plants generate electricity from coal. If Indonesia is serious about switching to clean energy, then it must increase its generation of renewable energy…Indonesia must also seize the challenge of eventually making its own electric vehicle batteries. For now, Indonesia benefits simply from increased demand for its nickel exports. Considering Indonesia's potential to develop a full electric vehicle supply chain, it needs countries such as China to help it develop its domestic market.