Morowali. In the heart of Morowali, Central Sulawesi, what was once dense and uncharted forestland in the villages of Fatufia and Labota has undergone a radical transformation over the past two decades. Today, it stands as a thriving industrial park contributing significantly to Indonesia's revenue, with tax and royalty earnings reaching Rp 10 trillion in 2022, and projected to rise to Rp 17 trillion in 2023.

The taxes and royalties stem from nickel-based mining activities in these two village areas.

The catalyst behind this change is the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP), a venture initiated by Bintang Delapan Minerals (BDM) and Tsingshan Group, the world's largest nickel processing company. IMIP Managing Director Hamid Mina, reflecting on his initial visit in 2005, reminisced about the lack of electricity and the darkness that enveloped the region. Little did he anticipate that it would evolve into a cutting-edge industrial hub.

"In 2005 or 2006, when I first came here, we were given a shovel and a candle by the innkeeper. There was no electricity, and it was pitch dark at night," said Hamid Mina, recounting his journey to open a mine in Morowali.

Having faced setbacks in coal exploration in East Kalimantan, Hamid turned his attention to nickel. "I believe that Indonesia's advantage lies in its natural resources. We are rich in coal in Kalimantan. For nickel, it's Sulawesi, Halmahera, even Papua," said Hamid.

Nickel was not as popular as coal at that time, making it easier to open mining lands. Hamid and his brother, Halim Mina, began their investment by opening mines in the previously dark areas of Bahodopi.

In 2010, BDM started exporting nickel ore to China, partnering with Tsingshan. Tsingshan Group is a global leader in nickel processing with complete and advanced processing technology. BDM and Tsingshan later collaborated due to policies prohibiting the export of raw materials (nickel ore).

In July 2013, the nickel refining plant began construction, thanks to the partnership of the two corporations, with Sulawesi Mining Investment (SMI) managing it.

On Sept. 19 of the same year, IMIP was established. Shareholders include Shanghai Decent Investment Group, SMI, and Bintang Delapan Investama.

On Oct. 3, 2013, a business-to-business agreement was signed between SMI and  IMIP, witnessed by former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Chinese President Xi Jinping. A year later, the then Minister of Industry, Saleh Husin, inaugurated the IMIP area. From there, the mining area progressed rapidly.

IMIP manages the nickel-based industrial area in Bahodopi. It serves tenants by providing all the necessary support for mining industries, including land, power plants, ports, and even an airport. This comprehensive infrastructure ensures that investors building factories no longer need to worry, as most interconnected mining industry facilities are available in this area.

"Full services for the tenant. From A to Z (are available for investors), including us building a power plant to supply energy. Here, it's integrated from nickel ore to nickel pig iron (NPI) and eventually batteries," said Hamid Mina to several national media leaders in Morowali last week.

On May 29, 2015, the first smelter of SMI began operations, inaugurated by President Jokowi.

A year later, the Guang Ching Nickel & Stainless Steel Industry (GCNS) in the area started producing stainless steel. This Chinese company produces 600,000 tons of nickel pig iron or raw iron. NPI is typically used as a raw material for anti-corrosive steel production. The raw material for NPI is low-grade nickel ore (less than 1.8%) found abundantly in Indonesia.

GCNS also has a stainless steel plant with a production capacity of 1 million metric tons per year.

The IMIP area continued to progress. In 2017, a carbon steel plant was built. Its main raw materials are iron ore and coke. Carbon steel is often used in construction, infrastructure, and manufacturing industries such as automotive components, or oil pipe production.

In 2018, the area was able to produce stainless steel cold-rolled coil (CRC) or white steel. Stainless steel CRC makes aircraft structures, roofing or walls, electrical equipment, automotive industries, and even metal furniture.

Then, in 2019, the raw battery material plant Qing Mei Bang (QMB) New Energy Materials was established. This marked a significant step in what is referred to as downstream processing. Nickel, manganese, cobalt, and lithium are processed in the Battery Material Plant to become lithium battery materials, which will eventually be the precursor to the positive pole of the battery or cathode active material.

The inauguration of QMB New Energy Materials was attended by Luhut Pandjaitan, who was then the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs, and Airlangga Hartarto, the Minister of Industry. QMB New Energy Materials is a joint venture between Chinese, Indonesian, and Japanese companies, namely GEM, Brunp Recycling Technology, Tsingshan, IMIP, and Hanwa.

In 2020, the carbon steel plant built three years earlier was able to produce 3.5 million tons of commercial steel.

In 2021, IMIP expanded the industrial area to 4,000 hectares. In 2022, the industries in this area had already exported nickel-cobalt hydroxide battery raw materials.

Now, the IMIP area has three industrial clusters. First, the stainless steel cluster with a capacity of 4 million metric tons per year of stainless steel, 3 million tons per year of hot-rolled coil, and 1.1 million tons per year of cold-rolled coil.

The second is the carbon steel cluster with a production capacity of 4.8 million tons per year. The third is the electric vehicle (EV) battery component cluster with a capacity of 120,000 tons per year of nickel-cobalt and 120,000 tons per year for Ni Sulfide.

There are now at least 54 interconnected factories with various mining products and supporting companies. Each factory is interrelated, even though they belong to different companies, making it an integrated metal industry zone.

Mining products have gained significant added value. One example is the raw battery material that will be taken by industrial partners such as CATL, LGES, Samsung, Ave, and others, then passed on to car manufacturers such as VW, BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Ford, etc.

One factory is adjacent to another, creating an industrial ecosystem. Some raw materials and products from one factory are used by neighboring factories, forming a production chain with minimal logistics costs because everything is within one area.

In addition to large trucks transporting raw materials or finished products, large pipes connect one factory building to another. There are even conveyors connecting the port to factories that are about 2 km away.

Integrated industrial areas like this attract investors looking to build mining-related factories. Besides obtaining various facilities or conveniences from IMIP, they also benefit from minimal logistics costs.

As more factories enter the area, an industrial ecosystem is formed. Almost all raw materials to support derivative production from nickel processing are already in the same and integrated area, and very inexpensive. This is one of the competitive advantages of the IMIP Industrial Zone.

Social Impact
The development of the area and the increasing number of factories come with a growing workforce and various social issues. There are about 80,000 employees in the IMIP area, and with contractors and others, it can reach 120,000.

The majority of workers come from Sulawesi, approximately 90 percent of the workforce is Indonesian. Meanwhile, foreign workers (TKA) from China number around 11,000. "There are no illegal workers. There are 15,000 TKAs, with over 11,000 from China. Why is that? Because all the technology is from China," said Hamid Mina.

IMIP collaborates with the Ministry of Industry to establish the Morowali Metal Industry Polytechnic. In addition to providing scholarships, there is also cooperation with the local Education and Culture Office to recruit high school or vocational school graduates to be trained in the polytechnic workshop and later be employed by IMIP.

In terms of employee living, IMIP has built dormitory facilities within the industrial area. However, some others live outside the industrial area.

The presence of the expanding mining area is followed by areas around IMIP. Along the relatively narrow Trans-Sulawesi road, many buildings have emerged as economic activities around the mining area have increased.

According to data from the Central Sulawesi branch of Bank Indonesia, the regional gross domestic product (GDP) has experienced a remarkable increase of 152.98% over the last decade. In 2022, Central Sulawesi has achieved the second-highest economic growth nationally, following North Maluku. This substantial growth is attributed to the significant impact of downstream industrialization, identified as a key catalyst for the region's economic development.

Achmanto Datu, Director of HRD at IMIP, revealed during a focus group discussion with national media leaders that the development around the factory area needs to be organized to avoid chaos. This applies not only to spatial planning but also to social and cultural aspects. "That is beyond our authority," he said.

Like in a cowboy movie, he said, when a mine is discovered in an area, various businesses emerge, from barbershops, and shoe repair shops to salons and bars or entertainment venues.

The same goes for the Bahadopi District. Many accommodations or boarding houses have sprung up. According to IMIP's survey, there are currently around 5,000 businesses. If there are two people in each business, that's 10,000 workers.

"Even 10 years ago, you rarely saw a motorcycle. The houses were also far away. Now, they're not far apart," he said.

Regarding the number of businesses, according to Achmanto Datu, there is a phenomenon of an increasing number of spa places. In the Bahadopi District alone, there are at least 50 spa or massage places. Meanwhile, according to Datu, the majority of mining workers are still single.