An EV battery plant in Indonesia, built by China’s BTR New Material Group and Singapore’s Stellar Investment, has been inaugurated by Indonesian president Joko Widodo.

It will make anode materials for EV batteries and is the largest anode production site outside China.

Widodo said: “Our decision several years back to develop a big EV ecosystem is starting to materialise in Indonesia, starting when we banned export of raw nickel in 2020,” Reuters reported.

For the first phase, the companies invested US$478m. It will produce 80,000 metric tons of materials per year, according to the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment Affairs. Production start date has not yet been announced.

The second phase, scheduled to start in late 2024 with an additional $299m investment, will expand the total capacity to 160,000 tons.