Indonesia says BASF, Eramet near $2.6 bln deal to process nickel for EV batteries

JAKARTA, Jan 19 (Reuters) – Germany’s BASF (BASFn.DE) and French miner Eramet (ERMT.PA) are finalising a $2.6 billion partnership deal to invest in a facility in Indonesia to process nickel for use in batteries for electric vehicles, Indonesian officials said.The Indonesian announcement comes as Southeast Asia’s biggest economy has been courting global companies to build facilities to produce EV batteries and electric cars to exploit the country’s rich nickel resources.In separate emailed responses, the companies confirmed they were assessing a hydro-metallurgical project to produce battery-grade nickel and cobalt from Eramet’s mine in Indonesia’s Weda Bay, but did not confirm the proposed investment.Indonesia’s investment ministry cited BASF chief executive Martin Brudermüller as saying the project investment would be worth around 2.4 billion euros ($2.59 billion).”We would like to…

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