The head of French miner Eramet’s Indonesian operations has said it has become impossible for western companies to run profitable nickel operations without partnering with their Chinese counterparts, amid a slump in prices for a metal critical to electric vehicle batteries. In a Financial Times interview Jérôme Baudelet, chief executive of Eramet Indonesia, said Chinese technology, expertise and equipment were essential to produce nickel at competitive prices.
Over the past two decades, HPAL projects by western companies in New Caledonia, Australia and elsewhere have failed due to high costs and technical issues. But new Chinese technology has enabled such plants to be built quickly and in a more cost-efficient way. Chinese companies dominate nickel processing in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest nickel reserves.