PT Aneka Tambang (Persero) Tbk (ANTM) or Antam is finalizing an investment agreement to develop the electric vehicle (EV) battery industry with PT Ningbo Contemporary Brunp Lygend Co Ltd (CBL), a CATL subsidiary, and LG Energy Solution (LGES) worth US$ 6 billion or the equivalent of Rp. 90 trillion. The project agreement is targeted to be signed this year.

Antam Business Development Director (ANTM) Dolok Robert Silaban explained, the collaboration between Antam, CBL and LGES focuses on the upstream side of the EV battery industry. As of now, the conditional shares purchase agreement (CSPA) for this collaboration will soon be completed.

This is because, he said, there are still several conditions in the transaction that must be assessed, especially regarding reserves or nickel reserves whose grades need to be increased. This is what Antam is negotiating with CBL and LGES.

He added, all parties had agreed to cooperate, namely on the upstream side of the EV battery. On the other hand, there are complement dates or long stop dates that are constantly being pursued. This is because this investment depends on China, so it needs to get approval from Overseas Direct Investment (ODI). "The overall

investment value for this project is around US$ 6 billion from upstream to downstream. In the midstream , Antam is also involved," Dolok replied to Investor Daily in Jakarta, Monday (16/1/2023).

As an illustration of the downstream flow, Dolok detailed, Antam will play a role in mining nickel ore. Then the ore is processed into nickel sulfate which is then produced into batteries both in the form of material and in the form of PX batteries. After that, there is a recycling process or commonly known as battery recycle .

"So, this is what we will finish soon. We will finish all of that after the CSPA is finished," added Dolok.

According to Dolok, the battery industry continues to grow from year to year, as has happened in Japan, China, Korea, to Europe or the United States (US). Antam views these countries as countries that are quite successful in developing the battery industry.

Separately, Bisman Bakhtiar, Executive Director of the Center for Energy and Mining Law Studies (Pushep), said that the EV battery industry is the industry of the future. This is because this is related to the energy transition, especially in the transportation sector.

"So, the future of EV will be a bright industry," said Bisman to Investor Daily . Moreover, according to him, Indonesia has an advantage on the upstream side, namely nickel mineral resources that can be used as raw material for EV batteries. It's just that, at this time, the EV ecosystem has not been built ideally because it is still not optimal in the downstream and follow-up industries. It is this part that the government should pay attention to in order to encourage its follow-up industries.

At least, he projects, the EV battery industry will need 10 years to really run ideally and sustainably. Even so, the effervescence of the EV battery industry has been sufficient to provide positive sentiment for Antam's performance going forward.

"Antam has an upstream to downstream industry. Even though as an upstream player, Antam is not that big," said Bisman.

Source: https://investor.id/market-and-corporate/319239/antam-antm-finalisasi-proyek-baterai-ev-us-6-miliar