Indonesia, The World's Largest Nickel Producer: Tesla Could Establish A Complete Supply Chain There

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said in a recent interview that the country is open to any company, including Tesla, that wants to tap into its rich natural resources if the factories they build boost the local economy.

Mr. Joko said the Indonesian government had been in talks with Tesla, Ford and other car companies to invite them to build facilities such as car factories in Indonesia.

Joko met with Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Texas last month to discuss potential investments and technology cooperation in Indonesia. Mr. Joko revealed in the interview that he suggested to Mr. Musk that Tesla could locate its entire supply chain in Indonesia.

Nickel supply has long been a pet peeves for Mr Musk, who has said it is one of tesla's biggest challenges in expanding its production capacity. The biggest advantage of Indonesia is that the country has the world's largest nickel reserves. According to the US Geological Survey, the global nickel reserves in 2020 were about 94 million tons, of which Indonesia accounted for 22%, or about 21 million tons, firmly ranking first in the world.

"We have had a lot of discussions, especially about Tesla going upstream and downstream, starting with the smelter, then establishing the cathode and precursor industry, making electric car batteries, making lithium batteries, and then car plants," Joko said.

印尼麝香先生派遣一个团队一个月和一个哈lf ago to examine nickel's potential and environmental concerns, Mr. Joko said, but the car-related team had yet to come.

As southeast Asia's largest economy, Indonesia is also a natural resource powerhouse, with rich deposits of tin, copper, cobalt and bauxite in addition to nickel, some of which are key materials for making batteries for electric cars. Indonesia is also the world's largest exporter of coal and palm oil.

Under Mr. Joko, Indonesia has repeatedly restricted or banned exports of key commodities, including nickel, coal and palm oil. But Joko has rejected accusations of protectionism.