Chinese tycoon Xiang Guangda has to find a way to bail his Tsingshan Holding Group out of a crisis after its bet on nickel prices backfired, fuelling more volatility in a metal essential for the electric vehicles industry.
Last year, it triggered a price drop with surprise news that it would provide nickel matt to battery materials makers, potentially solving a key bottleneck for electric vehicles by boosting battery-grade supply in a cheaper way. For Indonesia, Tsingshan is a means to fulfil its ambition to become a one-stop shop for EV battery ingredients and the company has executed projects at lightning speed. Western firms often privately complained about the access and resources Tsingshan got in the country.
But its fortunes changed when Xiang started exploring Indonesian markets in 2009. Over the next decade, it shook the global nickel industry with low-cost nickel pig iron.