He declined to disclose the total investment for the overall
planned capacity. The company is now in negotiation with a
potential partner for the second HPAL plant.
Merdeka Battery controls a nickel mine with one of the
world's biggest ore resources which could support its production
for the next 20 years, Devin said, citing a review by Wood
Mackenzie.
The company currently has production capacity of 38,000
tonnes of nickel pig iron through two existing smelters and a
third smelter with 50,000 tonnes capacity is expected to start
operation in the second half of the year.
Nickel-rich Indonesia is trying to become a major player in
the EV industry and had attracted billions of dollars of
investment into processing the ore into metals and materials
used in batteries.
Merdeka Battery would be the second nickel company to launch
an IPO in Indonesia this year after PT Trimegah Bangun Persada,
which is expected to raise $647 million through the shares sale. ($1 = 15,055.0000 rupiah)
(Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy
Editing by Ed Davies)
JAKARTA, March 30 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Merdeka
Battery Materials plans to build two nickel processing plants to
make products used in batteries for electric vehicles with a
combined capacity of 240,000 tonnes, its chief executive said on
Thursday.
The company is offering 10.24% of its shares in an initial
public offering set for April 12-14 to raise 8.75 trillion
rupiah ($581.20 million), according to a prospectus issued this
week. An additional 1.01% shares could be issued in case of
oversubscription which could put the maximum proceeds of the IPO
at 9.619 trillion rupiah.
The company, a unit of Merdeka Copper Gold , will
use some of the proceeds from the IPO to help finance the first
stage development for its first high pressure acid leach (HPAL)
plant, chief executive Devin Ridwan told reporters.
"We are planning to build two HPAL plants with 120,000
tonnes capacity each," Devin said, adding China's stainless
steel giant Tsingshan Holding Group will be a strategic partner
to develop an industrial park to house the HPAL projects.
Development of the initial 60,000 tonnes capacity of the
firs HPAL plant is underway, with $1.28 billion investment, and
it is expected to start operations in 2025, he said.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.