Key Points
(Bloomberg) -- The battery unit of Tsingshan Holding Group Co., the worlds top nickel producer, plans to build a plant in Indonesia, the latest in a series of Chinese investments that will help the Southeast Asian nation step up from commodities production to more lucrative processing and manufacturing..
REPT BATTERO Energy Co.s first overseas battery factory will be housed alongside Tsingshans existing operations in Weda Bay and could begin operating as soon as next year..
The intention is to steal a march on rivals planning new capacity elsewhere in the world, and take advantage of its parent for raw materials and infrastructure..
China is one of Indonesias top investors, spending more than $7 billion there last year, with much of the cash deployed on building out processing facilities for the nations abundant reserves of raw materials..
The US is keen to develop supply chains that dont rely on China, while Jakarta is lobbying for closer trade ties with Washington to ensure its exports can benefit from the green subsidies available in the Biden administrations Inflation Reduction Act..
