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Indonesia Forms $1.2 Billion Battery Venture with China’s CATL

By Eddie Spence
A Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. (CATL) experience center in Chengdu, China, on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. Chinese banks kept their benchmark lending rates unchanged for August, as profit margins come under pressure and policymakers focus on the health of financial institutions. (Raul Ariano/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Indonesia announced a joint venture with China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. to invest $1.2 billion in battery production in the Southeast Asian country, furthering its ambitions to become a global hub for electric vehicles.

The Chinese cellmaking giant, through its subsidiary CBL International Development, formed the venture with government-owned Indonesia Battery Corporation, the companies said in a statement. The project in Karawang, West Java, aims to scale up battery production to 15 gigawatts a year.

The move marks an important step toward Indonesia’s goal to build out a complete supply chain for electric vehicles, a key aim launched by outgoing President Joko Widodo. The government has looked to leverage its vast production of nickel, a key ingredient for some batteries, to draw in foreign investors to the EV sector.

Earlier this year Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution Ltd. opened the first-ever battery cell plant in the country, while China’s BTR New Material Group launched an anode material plant.

--With assistance from Eko Listiyorini.

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.