Ford could build EV plant in Indonesia
Indonesia’s Deputy Minister of Industry, Faisol Riza, stated at an event in Jakarta: “Ford has promised to realise its factory and investment in Indonesia by next year.” This was reported by several media outlets, including Just Auto. Ford has not yet publicly confirmed the statement. Since the new government of President Prabowo Subianto took office in October, the Indonesian government is said to have already held talks with several global car manufacturers – “including with Volkswagen Group and Ford,” according to reports.
Ford only returned to the Indonesian market in 2022 after a six-year absence – through a partnership with the Bangkok-based RMA Group. However, it is considered certain that Ford would primarily target exports – in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond – with an EV plant in Indonesia. While the car manufacturer obviously sees potential there, Ford is currently making massive job cuts in Europe.
In spring 2023, the US manufacturer announced that it had secured nickel for electric car batteries from Indonesia on a large scale. Ford, together with mining company PT Vale Indonesia and Chinese company Huayou Cobalt, invested in a nickel processing plant in Pomalaa in southeast Sulawesi, where Vale operates a nickel mine.
According to earlier information, the project is expected to produce up to 120,000 tonnes of a nickel intermediate product per year to be used for nickel-rich battery cathodes. According to the announcement of the plans, operations are due to start in 2026, and the total investment will amount to 67.5 trillion Indonesian rupiah, the equivalent of around 4.0 billion euros. The ground-breaking ceremony for the plant took place in November 2022 under the direction of Vale and Huayou.
The plant for processing the nickel mined nearby is considered a “national strategic project” in Indonesia and is expected to create 12,000 jobs in the construction industry. Indonesia is known to have the largest nickel reserves in the world and banned the export of unprocessed nickel ore in 2020 to develop its own industry. SK On, CATL and LG are among those flirting with the Indonesian nickel deposits. The first delivery of nickel-based material to Tesla is also rumoured to have taken place last month.
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