Bappenas Wants To Downstream Nickel Not 'Business As Usual'

Illustration. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of National Development Planning/National Development Planning Agency (PPN/Bappenas) revealed that the preparation of a nickel decarbonization roadmap was made so that downstreaming of these commodities did not take place on a business as usual basis (routine without change).

"We need to have a kind of roadmap so that everything can monitor and of course later we will measure the progress, so that our nickel processing or downstream is not like business as usual," said Deputy for Maritime Affairs and Natural Resources of the Ministry of National Development Planning/Bappenas Vivi Yulawati, at the food hotel Midplaza, Jakarta, quoted from Antara, Tuesday, August 6.

The decarbonization of the nickel industry is considered to have contributed greatly to the economic transformation development agenda according to Indonesia Gold's 2045 vision. Economic transformation is also targeted to be a key strategy in medium and long-term planning documents to bring Indonesia out of the middle income trap.

The existence of this industrial decarbonization roadmap is said to be able to further align economic ambitions with achieving the emission reduction target in accordance with Indonesia's commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement.

This effort can be pursued through the creation of a sustainable nickel industry ecosystem, paying attention to the environment and ethics, along with the mission of producing high added value and being able to compete in the global market.

"In transitioning to this energy (nickel), not only Indonesia, but globally, we are talking about the need for batteries because one of them is through electricity which all require batteries. So, with a large enough nickel potential in Indonesia, of course we want to process nickel sustainably," said Vivi.

One of the reasons why Bappenas prioritizes the preparation of nickel roadmaps compared to other commodities is the advancement of nickel processing technology. Some nickel processing companies are said to no longer use conventional methods by traditional excavations, but use a sustainable method.

"So the lands are being processed again, the lands that were just dumped around them, can now be processed again to produce nickel again," he said.

Until now, the preparation of the nickel industry decarbonization roadmap that has been carried out since April 2024 has developed. The first is that the database collection process has been ongoing with efforts to build trust in the industry so that they are willing to share nickel-related data.

Second, communication has been carried out with trading rooms and industries and research institutions in China as one of the main countries of the nickel market to understand what demand for these commodities looks like and how the demand is met by them.

"We communicate both with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and also with the research entities there, is to understand what the demand is like, and then how the demand was fulfilled by them, and how the flow of goods from Indonesia, raw materials from Indonesia going there, and so on," said WRI Indonesia Country Director Nirarta Samadhi.

"The movement needs to be understood properly so that we can draw up a pathway that benefits all parties, does not harm one party and benefits the other, but can run in a balanced manner with a clear corridor. Corridors produce governance, mining procedures (mining) from nickel that are sustainable. In the future, this can help so that its demand in its market, for example, the market in China, as well as the require (require) what we can supply from here, "he also said.