After the 2025 Indonesia Mining Conference & Critical Metals Conference, Wu Chenyu, SMM's Marketing Director for the Nickel Industry, and Enzo, a nickel industry analyst, led an international delegation to Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park for a visit and exchange. They were warmly welcomed by the company's leadership. Through this visit, SMM and the international delegation gained a deeper understanding of the company's products, technologies, and development status. Meanwhile, they also developed a more profound understanding of the current market situation and existing issues in the nickel industry. They will continue to deepen cooperation with major enterprises to achieve complementary advantages and jointly promote the development of the global nickel industry.
Introduction to the Industrial Park
Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) is Indonesia's first integrated industrial zone aimed at utilizing minerals to produce and process raw materials for electric vehicle batteries. Located in Weda Regency, Central Halmahera District, North Maluku Province, Indonesia, the park held its groundbreaking ceremony in 2018, attended by Mr. Luhut Pandjaitan, Coordinating Minister for Economic and Maritime Affairs, Mr. Budi Karya Sumadi, Minister of Transportation, as well as leaders from various national ministries and local community leaders.
Phase I of the industrial park commenced operations in Q1 2020. Covering an area of approximately 3,000 hectares, the park employs over 90,000 people, with 90% sourced from the local market. Its main businesses include mining, ferronickel, high-grade nickel matte, nickel hydroxide precipitate, nickel sulphate, refined nickel, and precursors. IWIP has constructed numerous infrastructure facilities, including an airport, power plant, port, apartments, canteens, hotels, clinics, and a football field.
Power Plant:The IWIP power plant consists of 14 units, with Units 1 to 6 each having a capacity of 250 megawatts (MW) and Units 7 to 14 each having a capacity of 380 MW. The plant's designed total installed capacity is 4.5 gigawatts (GW), with an actual operational capacity of approximately 3.7 GW.
Angel Nickel Project: This project was launched in January 2022, with Nickel Industries Limited holding an 80% stake. It includes four RKEF production lines, with an annual ferronickel production capacity of 300,000 mt, operated by approximately 900 employees. The daily consumption of nickel ore is about 16,000 dmt.
Huafei HPAL Project: Founded in 1994 and headquartered in Tongxiang, China, Huayou Cobalt's Huafei HPAL project is a key project in Indonesia's nickel ore processing industry. Construction began in February 2022, and commissioning was completed in July 2023, taking 16 months. The project's actual production capacity exceeds 150,000 mt, with monthly production stabilized at over 30,000 mt since March 2024. The total investment is approximately $2.3 billion. The Huafei Project involves a refinery for nickel metal and cobalt sulphate, as well as a ternary cathode precursor project, with a designed capacity of 120,000 mt of nickel metal and 15,000 mt of refined cobalt. The production has exceeded the designed capacity by 30%. The Huafei Project is the largest HPAL project, jointly constructed by Huayou, Tsingshan, and IWIP Energy.
