DEN Reveals Valuation of Indonesia's Nickel-Cobalt Reserves Reaches US$800 Billion
The National Economic Council (DEN) has stated that the total value of Indonesia’s nickel and cobalt reserves reaches approximately US$800 billion.
Nataneil Adhynegara Horansil, a mining and minerals expert at the National Economic Council (DEN), conveyed this during a discussion on Nickel Processing Reform to Encourage Green Industry Growth in Jakarta on Thursday, 27 August 2026. According to him, this value derives from Indonesia’s nickel reserves of 52 million tonnes and cobalt reserves of 1.2 million tonnes.
“If we estimate the value using the current LME market price, the valuation for reserves is around US$700 billion for nickel, and around US$50 billion for cobalt,” he said.
“So it can be seen here that the total for nickel and cobalt is around US$800 billion,” he added.
He explained that this figure represents the value of reserves that can already be monetised, not the entirety of Indonesia’s mineral resources. Resources remain potential that cannot yet be fully mined economically due to various factors, such as market conditions and the environment.
“If we want to talk about what is minable, what can already be valued and monetised, we look only at the reserve value,” he said.
“Imagine how much benefit we can derive from these resources. US$800 billion, if converted to rupiah, is around Rp15,000 trillion,” he continued.
He stated that the nickel downstreaming policy implemented so far has had a significant impact on the development of the domestic mineral processing industry. Indonesia, which previously exported raw ore, is now capable of producing intermediate products such as nickel pig iron (NPI).
He expressed hope that Indonesia can continue to strengthen the industrial value chain to produce downstream products such as batteries and electric vehicles.
Furthermore, Nataneil noted that the downstreaming policy has also driven growth in the national nickel processing industry capacity. Indonesia’s nickel smelter capacity has now reached approximately 1.8 million tonnes, with the majority located in industrial estates in Sulawesi.
In terms of trade, Indonesia’s nickel product exports have also experienced significant growth. The export value of nickel products has increased twelvefold since 2014, from around US$3 billion per year to US$37 billion last year.