EcoPro invests $11 million in Indonesian nickel plant

Green Eco Nickel, operated by China's battery recycling company GEM, is located on Sulawesi Island in Indonesia. [ECOPRO]

EcoPro spent $11 million to acquire a 9 percent stake in a nickel processing facility in Indonesia to strengthen its supply chain.

The plant, known as Green Eco Nickel, is operated by Green Eco Manufacture (GEM), China’s largest battery recycling company. Situated on Sulawesi Island, the factory has the capacity to produce 20,000 tons of the material annually.

Nickel is a key material in the production of secondary batteries. Indonesia has the world’s largest nickel reserves, which are estimated to number 21 million tons and account for 22 percent of the world's supply, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Last November, EcoPro invested $86 million in another GEM-run Indonesia plant called QMB. That facility can produce 50,000 tons of nickel per year.

EcoPro expands nickel supply with new GEM deal

The company plans to invest further in nickel smelting factories within the country to secure more of the core battery material. The supply will be delivered to cathode material producers EcoPro BM and EcoPro EM.

Another affiliate, EcoPro Materials, aims to annually produce 200,000 tons of cathode material precursors by 2027. It needs a stable supply of 100,000 tons of nickel in order to achieve this goal, per its parent company.

“EcoPro will work toward establishing a stable supply chain through continuous investment in nickel refineries,” said Jang In-won, head of global resource development at EcoPro, in a statement. “We plan for additional investments in other nickel processing factories to prepare against the U.S. government’s Inflation Reduction Act.”

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]