Jakarta. Mining giant Antam and Hong Kong CBL concluded Thursday a series of deals that could supercharge the establishment of an integrated electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem in Indonesia.

Hong Kong CBL is a controlled subsidiary of the Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend (CBL). CBL is a subsidiary of the Guangdong Brunp Recycling Technology (Brunp), which is a subsidiary of the Chinese battery manufacturer CATL.

In 2022, CATL announced it would partner with Antam and Industri Baterai Indonesia --better known as Indonesia Battery Cooperation (IBC)-- via CBL on an EV battery project. The joint investment totaled nearly $6 billion. 

Fast forward to Thursday, Antam and Hong Kong CBL concluded a string of share sale and purchase transactions of the former’s subsidiaries Sumberdaya Arindo and Feni Haltim (FHT).  In other words, Antam has sold a portion of its shares in its two subsidiaries to Hong Kong CBL as part of the EV battery project. 

Antam announced that Hong Kong CBL now held a 49 percent stake in the nickel miner Sumberdaya Arindo. 

Antam sold 10 percent of its shares in FHT to Hong Kong CBL. The disclosure document also showed that Hong Kong CBL had bought Antam’s subsidiary International Mineral Capital’s entire 50 percent share in FHT. Thus, Hong Kong CBL owns 60 percent of the shares in FHT, which is a ferronickel producer with operations in East Halmahera, North Maluku.

“Antam and Hong Kong CBL have signed an agreement related to the plan to establish a company for the hydrometallurgical projects [HPAL JVCO] based on a joint venture agreement [between the two] on Dec. 22,” an Antam press release issued on Thursday reads.

This joint venture will construct high-pressure acid leach (HPAL) facilities to produce mixed hydroxide precipitate. Hong Kong CBL will have 70 percent of the share ownership of the joint venture, while the rest will go to Antam. The HPAL facilities will lie on land owned by the FHT.

“Congratulations to Antam, CBL, and the IBC for an investment partnership in Indonesia’s lithium battery ecosystem,” Chief Investment Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said Thursday, who was quoted as saying in a separate ministerial press release.

“This is the first time in the world that we see [an ecosystem] that encompasses the nickel mining, the battery cell and pack giga factory to the battery recycling facilities. I think this answers questions related to the downstream industry. There are still so many things that we can do to develop this industry,” Luhut said.