Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) plans to increase its nickel smelting capacity to 220,000mt per year in 2021.
An IWIP official told local media on Sep 29 that the company planned to complete the construction of four more nickel processing plants by the end of next year. The additional plants will also increase the smelting capacity for the material.
The current nickel capacity of its existing three plants at Weda Bay stands at 110,000mt per year, but the official did not disclose who would be investing in the new nickel processing plants nor did the company comment on the exact timelines to complete these new units.
Of the three existing smelters, one is jointly owned and operated by China’s Tsingshan Holding and France’s Eramet. This smelter had ceased production for a day in August due to flooding in the area. The smelter was inaugurated in April this year.
Indonesia, which was one of the biggest exporters of nickel ore until last year, banned nickel exports in early 2020 in a bid to become a complete supply chain provider for the metal.