Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co, one of the world’s largest nickel producers, is reportedly in discussions with banks to finance its nickel mining project in Indonesia, in partnership with Ford, for approximately US$2.7 billion.
Bloomberg reports the financing initiative involves banking titans HSBC and Standard Chartered as lead arrangers, who are currently reaching out to additional banking partners to participate in this significant battery metals venture.
Huayou expects the total investment for the project to total US$3.8 billion, located in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi’s nickel-rich region with an annual nickel output of 120,000 tons.
The deal serves as an important indicator of government’s policy direction on critical minerals: whether they will prioritise cheap, foreign minerals to keep US electric vehicle prices competitive with China’s EVs, or encourage US automakers to only buy critical minerals from domestic jurisdictions through incentives such as tax credits.
Find out more with our analysis on US miners and US automakers: