Jakarta. Indonesia aims to earn $45 billion from nickel exports this year, as Jakarta tries to move up the value chain of the coveted silvery-white metal despite Europe’s complaints, according to a senior minister.

The resource-rich nation has been trying to quit exporting raw commodities and switch to selling refined, value-added goods.

This master plan starts with nickel, the mainstay ingredient in advanced technologies like batteries for electric vehicles (EVs). To put the plan in motion, Indonesia even slapped an export ban on unprocessed nickel ore in 2020. It has opened doors for foreign investors who wish to build refineries or factories of nickel-based products.

Chief Downstream Industry Minister Bahlil Lahadalia said Wednesday that the decision had borne fruit. 

"We have been massively pursuing industrialization since stopping nickel ore exports. We are building the ecosystem of EV batteries, even up to the battery packs,” Bahlil told the Trade Expo Indonesia at ICE BSD.

Indonesia reported that it had sold nickel derivatives worth nearly $34 billion to foreign markets in 2024, a steep hike from the $3.3 billion shipments seen in 2017. Bahlil claimed that exports hit the $40 billion mark last year.

“I aim to raise the nickel exports to at least $45 billion in 2026.”

While Indonesia sees dollar signs in the plan, Bahlil admitted that not everyone was happy with the country’s downstream industry push. 

He recalled how the European Union (EU) even sued Indonesia at the World Trade Organization (WTO) over the nickel export halt, as the grouping aired worries that the ban could affect its steel manufacturers. The WTO ruled in favor of the EU, prompting an appeal by Jakarta. But the top trade court is now missing its panel of judges that is in charge of hearing the appeals, thus putting the nickel dispute in limbo.

“Indonesia will no longer be a country that merely exports raw materials. We are well aware that certain countries — which had pursued their industrialization agenda using our raw materials — initially got quite rattled by our move,” Bahlil said.

Indonesia hosts the world’s largest nickel reserves, reaching a whopping 62 million metric tons. Australia sits in second place with 25 million metric tons, according to a US Geological Survey report. Indonesian mines’ production reached 2.6 million metric tons last year.

But the more ambitious shipment target is taking place amid shake-ups to Indonesia’s trade system.

Southeast Asia’s biggest economy wants all ferroalloy exports to go through the state-run Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia (DSI) to prevent any trade malpractices. The months-old DSI will check export documents and even track the vessels. Ferronickel is a ferroalloy whose nickel content can reach up to 40% and is a common combining agent in steelmaking.

Despite the EU’s wrath, the ban also proves to be an investment magnet. Government data showed Indonesia’s nickel processing saw Rp 71 trillion (nearly $4 billion) in investment inflows in the first half of 2026.

Investment Minister Rosan Roeslani not long ago admitted that nickel’s popularity among investors was no surprise, as Indonesia has made some progress in pursuing the entire EV ecosystem.

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