JAKARTA – The sovereign wealth manager Daya Anagara Nusantara Investment Authority, or BPI Danantara, announced its first investment move in the nickel sector with China-based recycling and new energy company GEM.

Danantara claimed it would begin building a nickel processing hub by leveraging its managed investment funds, which now amount to USD 8.3 billion — equivalent to IDR 135 trillion.

“We signed a Head of Agreement today with GEM from China,” said Pandu Sjahrir, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Danantara, as quoted by DealStreetAsia on Wednesday (27/8).

Although reluctant to disclose the value of the investment, Pandu added that the partnership would develop a “green industrial zone.”

GEM is a producer of raw materials for EV batteries and also operates in the mineral recycling sector from waste batteries and electronics in China, and is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

“GEM has collaborated with Vale, with EcoPro, and also with Merdeka, and now with us,” Pandu continued.

According to IDNFinancials.com, GEM has indeed worked with PT Vale Indonesia Tbk (INCO) to build a High-Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) smelter worth USD 1.4 billion.

The agreement was signed in November 2024 at the Indonesia-China Business Forum 2024 in Beijing.

GEM has also collaborated with PT Merdeka Battery Materials Tbk (MBMA), a subsidiary of PT Merdeka Copper Gold Tbk (MDKA), to build two HPAL facilities at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park in December.

Meanwhile, EcoPro is a South Korean recycling and battery materials manufacturing company. GEM is listed as EcoPro’s partner and has also invested in its subsidiary, EcoPro Materials. (ZH)