Ford Motor Co. is partnering with mining companies from Indonesia and China to invest in a nickel-processing project as part of the Dearborn, Michigan, automaker's bid to shore up supplies of key raw materials for electric-vehicle batteries.
PT Vale Indonesia Tbk, a nickel producer in Indonesia, and China's Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Co. on Thursday announced the deal with Ford, which involves all three companies taking equity stakes in the Pomalaa Block High-Pressure Acid Leaching, or HPAL, Project in Indonesia. The project represents a $4.5 billion investment, according to media reports. Ford did not disclose how much it was investing.
As competition in the automotive industry's EV shift intensifies, automakers increasingly are making investments to control their supply chains, including raw materials that are expensive and in short supply. Additionally, the critical mineral deposits often are found in countries far from North America, where mining and mineral processing encounter stiff regulatory resistance — especially in the United States.
