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Indonesia seeks lithium mineral pact with Australia
The government is exploring opportunities for narrowly focused trade and investment in lithium, an important mineral for the production of electric vehicles.
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An official charges an electric vehicle (EV) after the launch of the first public EV charging station in Nusa Dua, Bali, in March 2022. (AFP/Sonny Tumbelaka)
T
he government is exploring opportunities for narrowly focused trade and investment in lithium, the latest salvo in its push to build a comprehensive electric vehicle (EV) industry.
Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said at a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that the government hoped to increase lithium imports from Australia and become the world’s largest lithium battery producer.
“Though Indonesia is rich in nickel, that is insufficient to make the country the world’s largest battery producer, because we don’t have lithium, which incidentally is the main ingredient for the development of an EV battery industry,” Luhut said in a statement on Monday.
EVs are pushing up demand across the world for battery metals, but those critical resources are concentrated in very few countries – a problem causing increasing concern about supply chains.
Luhut went on to say that lithium-rich Australia was the best candidate to become Indonesia’s business partner for developing the country’s EV battery ecosystem.
Read also: Nickel still crucial for EV batteries: Industry players
Global lithium production exceeded 100,000 tonnes for the first time in 2021, quadrupling from only 28,000 tonnes in 2010, World Economic Forum (WEF) data show.
