Indonesia's president launches Jiangsu Delong's $2.7B ferronickel plant

Indonesian President Joko Widodo inaugurated the $2.7 billion ferronickel plant of PT Gunbuster Nickel Indonesia, a subsidiary of Chinese company Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry Co. Ltd., in southeast Sulawesi, Reuters reported Dec. 27.

The new plant is in line with the Indonesian government's plan to move up the value chain, instead of just exporting raw materials.

Indonesia, the world's largest nickel ore producer, banned exporting nickel ore starting January 2020, to draw investments from foreign companies for the construction of smelters.

The new plant is expected to process 13 million tonnes of nickel ore per year, Reuters reported, citing a government statement, and it will have an output capacity of 1.8 million tonnes.

Widodo said the smelter will increase nickel ore value by 14-fold and reiterated a plan to ban bauxite shipments at the end of 2022.

"So for those who want to build bauxite downstream industry, please do, because the opportunity (for exports) is only for one year," Widodo said.