Downstream Nickel Insinuated During The Vice Presidential Candidate Debate, Luhut Opened His Voice

JAKARTA - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan opened his voice regarding the downstream program which was repeatedly mentioned in the 2024 Vice Presidential Candidate debate.

Through an old post on his Instagram, @luhut.pandjaitan, Luhut said after watching the fourth debate of the 2024 presidential election which was held on Sunday, January 21.

"I deeply regret the disinformation that was conveyed at the moment (tum). Therefore, I feel the need to convey several notes regarding the downstream program which has been the domain of work in our office so far, and is closely related to the theme of the debate at that time," said Luhut, quoted Wednesday, January 24.

Regarding the price of Nickel, he said that if we look at the average price over the last 10 years, since 2014, the average price of world nickel is 15 thousand US dollars, it is still lower than the current price. Even in the 2014-2019 period, he said, when the beginning of the downstream period began, the world average nickel price was only 12 thousand US dollars.

"So I think the candidate pair need to look at the longer history of data in reading commodity price cycles," Luhut continued.

Then regarding the export data for nickel derivative products, Luhut said that in the period January to November 2023, it was USD 31.30 billion, an increase of 0.6 percent compared to exports for the same period in 2022, namely USD 31.13 billion.

"Although our production has increased significantly, it does not mean that our income has decreased," concluded Luhut.

Finally, regarding the Lithium-Ferro-Phosphate (LFP), Luhut explicitly denied the claim of the former Minister of Investment, Thomas Lembong, who stated that 100 percent of Tesla cars in SHanghai had used 100 percent of the LFP.

"It is not true what was stated when the Tesla factory in Shanghai used 100 percent of the LFP for its electric cars. They still use a battery made from nickel, supplied by LG," Luhut continued.

He also emphasized that the public needs to know that nickel-based battery lithium can be recycled, while LFP batteries so far still cannot be recycled.