Chinese companies that helped build Indonesia's nickel industry into the world's dominant producer are looking as far afield as Africa for longer-term alternatives as rising policy pressure tests the investment model that reshaped global supply.Tsingshan Group is considering a major development in Madagascar, the country's mines ministry said, while Lygend Resources, opens new tab is looking at a project in Tanzania as well as restarting the Koniambo operation in New Caledonia, according to industry sources.
The Chinese companies were among those that developed the smelters and industrial parks that turned Indonesia into the center of global growth for the metal used in stainless steel and electric-vehicle batteries after Jakarta banned ore exports in 2020.
Indonesia's share of production surged to more than 60 percent of global mined nickel output in 2025, up from just over 30 percent in 2020, according to US Geological Survey data.
The low-cost Chinese-backed output pushed the nickel market into surplus, lowered prices and forced higher-cost producers elsewhere including Glencore, opens new tab, BHP, opens new tab and Sumitomo, opens new tab to close or suspend operations or seek buyers.
