China keeps Indonesia’s battery dream afloat but future less certain

Indonesia has rapidly emerged as the world’s leading nickel producer, a transformation driven primarily by Chinese investment and technological transfer. This strategic collaboration has positioned the Southeast Asian nation as a critical node in the global electric vehicle supply chain, underpinning Jakarta’s broader objective to establish a fully integrated domestic battery manufacturing ecosystem.

The sustainability of this model, however, faces structural headwinds. Indonesia’s heavy reliance on Chinese capital, refining capacity, and downstream processing creates concentrated supply chain vulnerabilities that could be disrupted by geopolitical shifts or trade policy changes. Simultaneously, the commercial advancement of nickel-free