Bauxite Downstreaming Investment Surpasses Nickel for First Time
The realisation of bauxite downstream investments in the second quarter of 2026 reached Rp 40.1 trillion, jumping 193 percent compared to the first quarter of 2026, which amounted to Rp 13.7 trillion. This achievement places bauxite at the top of national downstream investment, surpassing nickel, which has long been the dominant commodity.
Minister of Investment and Downstream Rising/Head of BKPM Rosan Perkasa Roeslani stated that the shift indicates the national downstream programme is beginning to develop more evenly and no longer relies solely on the nickel industry. “Usually nickel is always number one. Now it is shifting, with bauxite becoming number one because there is indeed some bauxite smelter construction, both by domestic and foreign investors,” Rosan said in Jakarta.
Overall, downstream investment realisation in the second quarter of 2026 reached Rp 152.7 trillion, an increase of 5.7 percent compared to the same period last year. This value accounts for 29.8 percent of the total realised national investment, which reached Rp 511.8 trillion. In addition to creating added value, the increased investment has also had an impact on labour absorption.
Based on commodities, bauxite downstream investment was the largest at Rp 40.1 trillion, followed by nickel at Rp 29.4 trillion, copper at Rp 16.7 trillion, iron and steel at Rp 13.2 trillion, silica sand at Rp 4 trillion, and other commodities such as tin, gold, silver, cobalt, manganese, coal, Buton bitumen, and rare earth metals at Rp 4.7 trillion.
One of the projects supporting the increased investment is the construction of the Smelter Grade Alumina Refinery Phase I in Mempawah, West Kalimantan, developed by the MIND ID Group through PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM) together with PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (ANTAM). The facility has a production capacity of 1 million tonnes of alumina per year, requiring approximately 3.3 million tonnes of bauxite annually.
Member of Commission XII of the House of Representatives, Eddy Soeparno, positively welcomed the increase in downstream bauxite investments. He noted that the bauxite sector has indeed lagged behind nickel because more investment has flowed into the nickel processing industry. “We welcome the investment achievements in the downstream bauxite sector through a sharp increase in smelter investment. We are indeed waiting for even more investment in the bauxite smelter sector as it tends to lag behind investments in the nickel sector,” Eddy said. He expressed hope that smelter construction would not stop at the initial processing stage but continue through to the development of downstream industries so that the added value gained by Indonesia will be greater.
Throughout January to June 2026, realised investments were recorded to have absorbed 1,448,862 workers. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, labour absorption reached 742,263 people, an increase of 5.1 percent compared to the same period last year.