Vale: Nickel prospects remain solid amid developments in AI and eVTOL
Jakarta (ANTARA) - PT Vale Indonesia Tbk (INCO) believes that the prospects for the nickel mining business remain solid over the next few years, alongside the development of the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles.
“But looking ahead, I see that nickel is still very promising,” said the President Director and CEO of PT Vale, Bernardus Irmanto, during an online public expose in Jakarta on Thursday.
“We are not only looking at the use of nickel for electric vehicle batteries, but we are also seeing future trends in robotics, AI, data centres, and eVTOL, for example, which will require significant volumes of nickel,” he added.
According to Bernardus, these opportunities remain promising despite several challenges, primarily from the global geopolitical situation which will impact the prices of commodities supporting operations.
“We still see the future prospects for nickel as good and solid, even though there may be short-term turbulence regarding the supply-demand balance, as well as geopolitical conditions that affect the prices of commodities used in nickel production,” he explained.
Furthermore, Bernardus stated that as technology matures, the need for nickel as a primary and supporting raw material will remain relevant in the future.
“Especially as those technologies mature, the demand for nickel will increase, driven by new requirements. Therefore, we are investing today for tomorrow, for the needs of the future,” said Bernardus.
Nevertheless, he noted that the company must also have short-to-medium-term mitigation strategies, particularly amidst current global commodity price volatility.
“What we must be careful about is navigating the short term. Therefore, the short-term shocks related to profitability, fluctuating commodities, and currently high commodity prices must be mitigated,” said Bernardus.
He added that PT Vale is also preparing product diversification through strategic projects to increase competitiveness and commodity added value.
“We will have diversified products; there is nickel matte, and we also still have ore, and our way is to bring value from those products,” said Bernardus.
“We also have a complete partnership network, meaning we are not just producing, but the end off-takers, such as car manufacturers and battery manufacturers, are our partners,” he added.