PT Pupuk Indonesia Niaga, a PT Pupuk Indonesia (Persero) subsidiary, is developing its business in nickel commodities to meet domestic needs.

PI Niaga Commercial & Operations Director Trudo HDM Nainggolan said, as the initial step, PI Niaga conducted a joint operation with a national private company and successfully sold 34,000 MT of nickel to be sent to a nickel smelter in Morosi, Southeast Sulawesi.

He explained that business development in the nickel commodity is part of PI Niaga's business in the field of non-fertilizer trading. The demand for nickel commodities could be expected to continue to increase.

According to Trudo, this is following the government programs that continue to encourage the use of electric cars, where nickel is one of the main raw materials for electric vehicle batteries.

"The shipment was carried out in three shipments where two shipments of 24,000 MT were completed at the end of 2023, and one shipment of 10,000 MT was completed in early 2024," Trudo said in his official statement on Friday (23/2).

According to Trudo, PI Niaga strives to increase this nickel business so it can contribute to increasing revenue and achieving the company's target in 2024.

“Moreover, it supports the government's efforts in the green energy program through raw materials for electric vehicles,” Trudo concluded.

As a matter of information, nickel is a metal usually used as the cathode part of batteries. Nickel plays an important role in making batteries for electric vehicles because it is the main raw material.

For lithium-ion batteries, the most common type of battery used in electric vehicles, nickels are combined with cobalt and manganese. Apart from being rust-resistant, this composition is excellent in density and cheaper than other raw materials.

The use of nickel in the future is believed to increase significantly along with the growth of electric vehicles in Indonesia.

Image source: REUTERS / Yusuf Ahmad
Source: https://industri.kontan.co.id/news/anak-perusahaan-pupuk-indonesia-kirim-34000-mt-nikel-ke-smelter-di-morosi-sulteng