Prabowo’s Nickel State: Indonesia’s Search for Power

Prabowo’s Nickel State: Indonesia’s Search for Power

President Prabowo Subianto is trying to convert Indonesia’s nickel dominance into state power. While Joko Widodo’s decade (2014-2024) forced ore onshore and built the processing base, Prabowo now governs the industry that downstreaming created, tightening control across nearly every lever the state holds. Indonesia is a nickel state in formation, leveraging mineral rents the way petrostates leverage hydrocarbons. Mining and quarrying contributed…

Indonesia’s nickel rule changes are spooking Chinese investors – by Siwage Dharma NegaraandLeo Suryadinata (South China Morning Post – June 13, 2026)

https://www.scmp.com/ A leaked grievance letter reveals how Jakarta’s resource nationalism risks driving essential Chinese capital away Chinese investors in Indonesia’s nickel industry recently sent a formal protest letter to President Prabowo Subianto. The message reflects their concerns over Indonesia’s political and economic direction, and the long-term trajectory of Chinese investment and Indonesia’s industrialisation programme will ...