JAKARTA (Reuters) – A fire at a nickel smelter in Indonesia left one worker dead and injured six others, police said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of deadly incidents that have prompted concern over safety at the $2.7 billion facility.
The incident happened on Monday at the Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) plant in Central Sulawesi, local police spokesperson Djoko Wienartono confirmed. The smelter, launched in 2021, is owned by China’s Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry and has an annual capacity of 1.8 million tonnes.
GNI in a statement said the victim died after being given medical treatment and those injured were receiving care at a health facility. It said an investigation was underway.
The fire came five months after two workers were killed, including a Chinese national, in clashes and rioting when a protest at the smelter over pay and safety spiralled out of control, with security forces deployed to restore order.
A month earlier, two workers were killed in a fire and an explosion at the same facility, according to media reports at the time.
Nickel has become increasingly crucial for resource-rich Indonesia, the world’s biggest nickel producer, with billions of dollars of global investment flowing in after the government banned exports of unprocessed ore in 2020.
Southeast Asia’s biggest economy is trying develop downstream nickel industries and lure big ticket investment from manufacturers of electric vehicles and their batteries, including Tesla. Cathodes containing nickel deliver high energy density, allowing EVs to travel further.
President Joko Widodo is keen to develop the sector but has also called for improvements in safety and has pledged to improve monitoring of environmental standards.
(Reporting by Dewi Kurniawati; Editing by Martin Petty)
