Chinese nickel giant to replace LG with Indonesia

China's nickel-processing giant Huayou will join Indonesia's electric vehicle battery consortium, replacing South Korea's LG Energy, which withdrew, the investment minister confirmed.Hwayo, which operates in Indonesia through local subsidiaries and is involved in key nickel processing projects, has a good understanding of the industry, while LG Energy previously formed a consortium with Indonesian battery company and state-owned mining company Antam to plan a $9.8bn joint investment project covering upstream mining, smelter construction, cathode processing plants and battery factories. However, due to long delays in the project and stalled negotiations, in January this year the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources formally notified LG Chemical and LG Energy of the termination of the consortium, and LG and its partners have already paid part of the initial investment of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars. Hurray expressed interest in joining the consortium as early as last year, and the overall investment target for the project will remain at $9.8 billion after it joins. The EV battery consortium is a key part of Indonesia's strategy to develop a complete domestic EV supply chain and accelerate the establishment of its first EV ecosystem.