Indonesia and Australia, which have key minerals in electric vehicle batteries such as nickel and lithium, are seeking to cooperate through these resources, drawing keen attention from both inside and outside the industry to whether to launch electric vehicle battery cartels.
According to the Australian daily Diostrilian on the 14th, Azad Rajid, chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and chairman of energy giant Indica Energy, said in a media interview the day before that Australia was a “lost link” for the Indonesian electric vehicle industry and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albany will start talks with Indonesia on the issue in Bali.
KADIN is the organizer of the “Business 20 (B20) Summit,” a global consultative body for border and business leaders, which began ahead of the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, and Chairman Rajid leads the B20 as chairman of KADIN. Albany, who arrived in Bali to attend the G20 summit, is scheduled to speak at the B20.
Chairman Rajid said Indonesian corporate and investment chiefs have visited Australia in recent weeks to discuss cooperative measures such as investment in lithium mines and smelting core minerals in electric vehicle batteries.
“If Australia and Indonesia can work together, the two countries will be the largest global supply chains for electric vehicle batteries,” he said. “Indonesia is very serious about investing in Australian lithium mines.”
In this regard, Australia also recently appointed Nicholas Moore, former president of Macquarie Bank, as a special envoy to Southeast Asia on the 12th, making the promotion of trade and investment with Indonesia a government agenda.
In response, Diostrilian interpreted, “Australia and Indonesia have been competing in major minerals such as coal, but there are opportunities to cooperate in the electric vehicle battery industry.”
The reason why the two countries are discussing battery alliances is that the two countries have a large amount of lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite, which are key minerals of batteries.
Indonesia is the world’s largest nickel producer and storehouse, and Australia is the world’s largest lithium producer. In addition, both countries also have large amounts of cobalt and graphite. As it has a large number of key minerals in batteries, it is expected that the two countries will be able to determine the global battery market if they cooperate.
In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Bahril Rahadalia, Indonesia’s investment minister, also suggested creating an international organization such as OPEC for suppliers of electric vehicle battery minerals. Its strategy is to maintain high prices stably by forming cartels with key minerals of batteries.
“Indonesia and Australia can complement each other rather than compete,” Rajid said. “The two countries will actively discuss this.”
TED PARK
ASIA JOURNAL
