Indonesia Battery Materials Company (MBMA) stated in its latest quarterly report that it achieved its nickel ore production target in 2025 due to the improvement in mining capacity and weather conditions. In 2025, MBMA produced a total of 7 million wet tons of humic soil nickel ore and 14.7 million wet tons of limonite nickel ore at its Sulawesi Kayaan mine, with year-on-year growth of 42% and 45% respectively. The increase in production was attributed to the optimization of mining operations and more favorable weather conditions, with reduced rainfall interference.
MBMA reached a production target of 6-7 million tons of humic soil and exceeded the production target of 12.5-15 million tons of limonite. The NPI production decreased by 10% in 2025, equivalent to 73,871 tons of nickel metal, but remained within the production target range of 70,000-80,000 tons. The production of high-purity nickel was 19,998 tons of nickel metal equivalent, down 60% compared to the same period and lower than the production expectation of 20,000-25,000 tons. The production of high-purity nickel was restarted in October 2025 after MBMA obtained a new contract. MBMA established a partnership with Greenmet (GEM), and the PT ESG high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) plant produced 25,994 tons of nickel. The Sulawesi Nickel Cobalt (SLNC) high-pressure acid leaching project is still under construction and is expected to come online in the second half of this year. The high-pressure acid leaching nickel capacity of SLNC is 90,000 tons per year. MBMA raised the production targets for humic soil and limonite to 8-10 million tons and 2,000-2,500 million tons respectively for 2026. The production expectation for NPI remained at nickel metal equivalent of 70,000-80,000 tons, while the nickel metal equivalent production target for high-purity nickel was raised to 44,000-48,000 tons. The MHP nickel metal production target of the PT ESG plant was set at 27,000-30,000 tons.
