Indonesia’s Mining Shift: Building Value at Home

Описание: Indonesia is a super important player today in terms of electrification, energy storage, digital tools, and renewable energy.

The government is pushing a strong “downstreaming” policy — this means they don’t want to just export raw minerals anymore; they want to process them inside the country.

The main focus is on nickel, tin, and copper — but coal is still part of the picture.
Let’s start with nickel.

Indonesia is the world’s #1 producer, making around 2.2 million tonnes in 2024. Nickel is key for EV batteries, and because Indonesia is close to China — the biggest EV manufacturer — it makes things easier for the supply chain.

Coal is still important for the global economy, but exports are slowly going down because China and India are producing more by themselves, and many countries are moving to cleaner energy.

Then we have copper, an excellent electrical conductor. Demand is strong because of the energy transition. After problems in big mines, including Grasberg in Indonesia, analysts expect a market deficit that could grow by 2027.

For tin, used in solder for electronics, Indonesia is also top-3 globally. The government is trying to add more value and control the industry. State-owned company PT Timah will even manage five seized smelters starting in 2026.

Overall, Indonesia is changing laws to increase control, protect the environment, secure more tax revenue, and build more processing capacity at home.

This is how Indonesia is trying to make its mining industry louder, smarter and stronger.

Check our blog: blog.miningnext.com/indonesias-mining-makeover-from-raw-exports-to-battery-powerhouse/

Mining Next - share with us your stories - [email protected]