Indonesia has exported its first shipment of electric vehicle batteries, the opening output of a US$10bn mining downstream and manufacturing programme designed to force value-added processing of the country's mineral wealth onshore rather than raw ore exports.

REPT Battero Indonesia, a joint venture 60% owned by China's Rept Battero Energy Company — part of the Tsingshan Group — produced and shipped the batteries. The plant sits inside the Indonesia Weda Bay Industrial Park (IWIP) in Central Halmahera, North Maluku, a region holding some of the world's richest nickel deposits.

Indonesia bans the export of raw minerals such as nickel and aluminium, requiring domestic processing instead. The battery export marks the first tangible manufacturing result of that policy reaching the EV supply chain tier.

President Prabowo Subianto attended the export inauguration ceremony at the plant. He framed the milestone within the country's broader industrialisation drive, telling attendees: "We must manage our natural resources effectively so that we can generate welfare and prosperity for our people and nation."

What else launched alongside the battery exports?

The ceremony also marked the start of commercial operations at three other companies under the government's downstreaming programme:

• PT XCMG Indonesia Manufacturing, a heavy construction equipment maker
• PT Blue Sparking Energy
• Pioneer Aluminium Industries Ltd

Seven additional projects broke ground recently under the same programme, according to the event announcements.

The guest list signalled the political weight Jakarta places on downstreaming. Attendees included:

• Rosan Roeslani, Minister of Investment and Downstreaming
• Airlangga Hartarto, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs
• Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Chairman of the National Economic Council
• Bahlil Lahadalia, Coordinating Minister for Downstreaming and Energy Transition

Why does the first battery shipment matter?

Indonesia holds the world's largest nickel reserves and has spent years courting battery-materials investment, largely from Chinese groups, to climb from ore extraction into midstream and downstream processing. The REPT Battero export is the first confirmed evidence that the strategy has reached finished EV battery output — a tier above the nickel pig iron, matte and precursor materials already produced in the country.

The plant's location inside IWIP anchors it to Tsingshan's integrated nickel industrial estate, giving the battery operation direct access to processed nickel feedstock within the same park. That vertical integration is the template Jakarta wants to replicate across the US$10bn programme.

For battery buyers, a producing Indonesian cell plant adds a supply origin outside China, Korea and Japan, though export volumes and offtake customers from the Weda Bay operation remain undisclosed.

What to watch next

Watch for the announcement of export volumes and customer contracts from REPT Battero Indonesia, which will show whether the facility moves beyond symbolic first shipments into serial production. Track also the seven projects that recently broke ground — their capacity timelines will determine whether downstreaming delivers manufacturing at scale, not just ceremonies. Further policy decisions on extending the raw-ore export ban to additional minerals could broaden the programme's reach.