Saturday 19th of July 2025
|
|
|
Headlines : * Israeli strikes kill 94 more in Gaza   * 20 more held over Gopalganj clashes, total arrests now 45   * Eligible citizens can become voters until publishing voters list   * Conspiracy underway to prevent February election: Fakhrul   * 20 detained in Gopalganj special drive   * Foundation laid for Shaheed Abu Sayeed memorial in Rangpur   * NCP leaders, activists attacked in Gopalganj, section 144 imposed   * Malaysia to issue multiple entry visas for Bangladeshi workers: Dr Asif Nazrul   * Trump gives Russia 50 days to resolve Ukraine war   * Teesta master plan to Be finalised by year-end: Rizwana  

   International
Indonesian nickel producer to build $1.8 bn plant
  Date : 19-07-2025

(BSS/AFP) - An Indonesian nickel producer has announced plans for a $1.8 billion plant as Southeast Asia`s biggest economy tries to boost domestic processing and refining capacity of the material, key to electric vehicles.

Indonesia has the world`s largest reserves of nickel, but plays a comparatively small role in the refining process, something the government is trying to change.

PT Merdeka Battery Materials said this week it has signed agreements for construction of a high-pressure acid leach plant -- which extracts nickel and cobalt from ore -- on the island of Sulawesi.

The project, financed in part by a $1.4 billion loan, is expected to take 18 months to complete, with work beginning in January.

The plant will be built in Sulawesi`s Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, one of the biggest nickel production centres in Southeast Asia.

But China`s growing investment in nickel, a base metal used in electric vehicle batteries and stainless steel, has stoked unrest over pay and working conditions in Chinese-run or funded facilities.

In 2023, hundreds of Indonesian workers protested against conditions at a Chinese-funded nickel processing plant in the same industrial park after an explosion killed 18 people.

Nickel mining has also been linked to deforestation and rights abuses in parts of Indonesia, particularly involving Indigenous communities.

In 2020, Indonesia stopped exports of raw nickel, which led to a boom in domestic nickel processing, drawing large investments from China to build smelters.



  
  সর্বশেষ
Silent protest condemns assault on democracy, vilification of Tarique
1 more dengue death, 114 fresh cases recorded in 24 hrs
Bangladesh, UN sign MoU to establish Human Rights Office in Dhaka
4 killed in Gazipur road crash

Chief Advisor: Md. Tajul Islam,
Editor & Publisher Fatima Islam Tania and Printed from Bismillah Printing Press,
219, Fakirapul, Dhaka-1000.
Editorial Office: 219, Fakirapul (1st Floor), Dhaka-1000.
Phone: 02-41070996, Mobile: 01720090514, E-mail: [email protected]