Chinese electric vehicle (EV) battery company Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend (CBL) has agreed to make a significant investment in Indonesia, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, the Coordinating Minister for Maritime and Investment Affairs, announced that CBL has agreed to invest approximately US$ 420 million (IDR 6.5 trillion) in the country.
“It’s been signed. The figure is around US$ 420 million. Even though nickel prices have dropped a bit, I think this is progress or a breakthrough,” stated Luhut on December 22, 2023.
Rachmat Kaimuddin, Deputy for Infrastructure and Transportation Coordination at the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs, explained that CBL is a consortium and a subsidiary of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL). CBL had signed a framework agreement with Antam and PT Industri Baterai Indonesia in April 2022.
“The deal has been in progress since April 2022, and finally, an agreement was reached in late 2023. This is a breakthrough in battery investment,” Kaimuddin remarked.
The collaboration between Antam and CBL aims to develop and operate an industrial zone for the electric vehicle battery ecosystem in East Halmahera, North Maluku.
Through its subsidiary PT International Mineral Capital (IMC), Antam had signed a conditional share purchase agreement (CSPA) with Hong Kong CBL Limited (HKCBL), a subsidiary of CBL, for the partial ownership transfer of PT Feni Haltim on May 4, 2023.
According to CleanTechnica data, the total battery usage for electric vehicles worldwide reached 290.33 gigawatt-hours (GWh) in the first half of 2023, representing a 58.24% increase compared to the first half of the previous year.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited (CATL) emerged as the world’s largest supplier of electric vehicle batteries, with a usage of 92.84 GWh in the first half of 2023.
LG Energy Solutions ranked second, with a battery usage of 57.08 GWh during the same period, followed by BYD in third place with a usage of 49.38 GWh from January to June 2023.
Nicolas D. Kanter, President Director of Antam, mentioned that the collaborative project with China is expected to progress more quickly than the planned collaboration with South Korea. He stated that they already have sufficient references, making the cooperation process with CBL faster and easier.
“In my personal view, we already have a reference, CBL. So, God willing, it will be easier. To simplify, it’s like, ‘Oh, this is how it used to be.’ So we have a reference that we can use as a benchmark,” he expressed when met at the Indonesian Parliament Building in Jakarta, quoted on Thursday (April 13, 2023).
Moreover, he noted that the project with China could progress faster because Antam and Hong Kong CBL had signed a Conditional Share Purchase Agreement (CSPA) on January 16, 2023. This CSPA is related to the transfer of 49% of Antam’s shares in its subsidiary, PT Sumberdaya Arindo (SDA), in a joint project with CBL.
The signing of the CSPA is the initial step towards the realization of the electric vehicle (EV) battery ecosystem development project in Indonesia and is in line with Antam’s commitment to supporting the project’s development.
In this collaboration, CBL (via HKCBL) is expected to contribute directly to its technology and business experience through collaboration with Antam at PT SDA, becoming Antam’s strategic partner in implementing the integrated EV battery project in Indonesia.
“The status now, on January 16, 2023, we signed the CSPA, Conditional Share Purchase Agreement, and Shareholder Agreement with CBL. And the conditions that must be fulfilled, including obtaining approval from China, will hopefully be completed in October,” he explained.
