Indonesia ... seeks to leverage the growing nickel demand to position itself at the center of the global energy transition movement. Indonesia’s efforts to achieve this by building its downstream nickel industry has attracted significant foreign investment, particularly from China, whose role in Indonesia’s nickel industry is complex, deep-seated, and evolving. 

The CGSP Nickel Tracker is an interactive map that details nickel development across Indonesia, covering mining, processing, and battery production projects. This map includes projects that involve both domestic and international stakeholders, offering a unique and comprehensive look into an industry where data is often scarce and closely guarded by the government.

We have made the data collected for this map publicly available under a Creative Commons license. It can be used, quoted, translated, and/or republished by anyone, including fellow research and media institutions. Designed to enhance transparency, we hope that this map serves as a resource for researchers, policy practitioners, and anyone interested in understanding the scope and impact of the nickel industry in Indonesia.

The map is divided into three parts:

1. Interactive Map
2. Project List
3. Stories

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We found that the shareholding structure was more complex and ambiguous than we anticipated. Our research also indicated that the ecological consequences of these nickel projects were widespread, as was corruption involving local governments. There were also clear linkages between these issues: where corruption was present, one could almost certainly expect reports of ecological damage and conflict with local communities. 

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CGSP has developed a report brief, Indonesia’s China-backed Nickel-to-Battery Ambition, to serve as a companion piece to this map. ...