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The Sustainability of Nickel Mining in ASEAN: Supply, Depletion and Carbon Footprint

The Sustainability of Nickel Mining in ASEAN: Supply, Depletion and Carbon Footprint

Indonesia and the Philippines hold some of the world’s largest laterite nickel reserves, making ASEAN central to EV battery supply. This study, by Minviro and ERIA, models the region’s nickel supply, reserve resilience and the carbon footprint of battery-grade nickel.

Indonesia and the Philippines hold some of the world’s largest laterite nickel reserves, making ASEAN central to EV battery supply. This study, by Minviro and ERIA, models the region’s nickel supply, reserve resilience and the carbon footprint of battery-grade nickel.

ERIA

IN SUMMARY

Can ASEAN supply EV nickel sustainably, and at what carbon cost?

Can ASEAN supply EV nickel sustainably, and at what carbon cost?

EV batteries are projected to account for around 60% of global nickel demand by 2040, and Southeast Asia, led by Indonesia and the Philippines, holds some of the world’s largest laterite reserves. That makes the region central to both EV growth and transport decarbonisation. Working with the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA), Minviro combined supply-demand modelling, reserve depletion assessment and life cycle assessment with life cycle costing to test whether ASEAN can meet EV nickel demand, how long its reserves will last, and how cleanly battery-grade nickel can be produced.

  • Reserves are finite and depletion is a real risk. ASEAN’s known limonite reserves could meet projected 2040 EV demand, but if all 27 planned HPAL facilities come online, reserves may deplete by 2038 without new exploration and resource conversion.

  • Battery-grade nickel carries a real carbon cost. Producing 1 kg of nickel sulfate hexahydrate emits around 8 kg CO₂e, dominated by the HPAL process, with energy use accounting for more than half the impact.

  • Decarbonisation is affordable. Combining biodiesel, renewable energy and low-carbon sodium hydroxide could cut emissions by up to 54%, while raising operating costs by only 8 to 12%.

Why ASEAN's nickel matters for the energy transition

Nickel demand is set to rise sharply as cathode chemistries grow more nickel-rich, with the ratio of nickel to manganese and cobalt moving from 1:1:1 toward 9:0.5:0.5. Indonesia is already the world’s largest nickel producer, and its 2020 ban on raw ore exports has drawn major foreign investment, mostly from China, into domestic processing. The region’s strength is laterite ore, specifically limonite, which is processed via high-pressure acid leaching (HPAL) into mixed hydroxide precipitate and then refined into nickel sulfate hexahydrate, the key precursor for nickel-rich batteries. But the downstreaming boom has come with environmental and social concerns, from deforestation to community displacement, which sit alongside the supply questions this study addresses.

How the study was built

The analysis brought together three modelling strands. A reserve resilience model simulated how fast Indonesian and Philippine limonite reserves deplete under three HPAL build-out scenarios. A supply-demand model estimated how much nickel sulfate the region could produce against projected EV sales to 2040, under two adoption pathways: an HEV Bridge scenario and a more aggressive BEV Ambitious scenario. And a life cycle assessment, run in Minviro’s XYCLE software following ISO 14040/44 and 14067 with ecoinvent 3.10 background data, quantified the carbon footprint of producing 1 kg of nickel sulfate via HPAL and refining, then tested decarbonisation options. Life cycle costing was layered on top to check the affordability of those options.

What the results show

On supply, the region can meet its own projected 2040 EV demand of 0.5 to 1.0 million tonnes of nickel sulfate from eight HPAL facilities, leaving a surplus for export. But scaling to 27 facilities accelerates depletion, with known limonite reserves potentially exhausted by 2038 unless more resources are converted to reserves. Demand is heavily skewed by vehicle type: a battery electric vehicle needs up to nine times more nickel sulfate than a plug-in hybrid and around fifteen times more than a hybrid. On carbon, producing 1 kg of nickel sulfate emits about 8 kg CO₂e, with the HPAL leaching and neutralisation steps driving most of it, energy use making up over half the total, and sodium hydroxide the largest single chemical contributor. Decarbonisation options vary in power: renewable energy delivers by far the biggest cut, low-carbon sodium hydroxide up to 10%, while biodiesel and biomass co-firing are marginal. Together they reach up to 54% reduction, for an 8 to 12% rise in operating cost.

On supply, the region can meet its own projected 2040 EV demand of 0.5 to 1.0 million tonnes of nickel sulfate from eight HPAL facilities, leaving a surplus for export. But scaling to 27 facilities accelerates depletion, with known limonite reserves potentially exhausted by 2038 unless more resources are converted to reserves. Demand is heavily skewed by vehicle type: a battery electric vehicle needs up to nine times more nickel sulfate than a plug-in hybrid and around fifteen times more than a hybrid. On carbon, producing 1 kg of nickel sulfate emits about 8 kg CO₂e, with the HPAL leaching and neutralisation steps driving most of it, energy use making up over half the total, and sodium hydroxide the largest single chemical contributor. Decarbonisation options vary in power: renewable energy delivers by far the biggest cut, low-carbon sodium hydroxide up to 10%, while biodiesel and biomass co-firing are marginal. Together they reach up to 54% reduction, for an 8 to 12% rise in operating cost.

What it means for the region and the industry

The findings point to a balancing act. ASEAN has enough nickel to support ambitious EV targets and even export surplus, but only if reserves are managed strategically through mining quotas, paced HPAL construction and active resource-to-reserve conversion. Building unchecked capacity risks depleting reserves within little more than a decade. On carbon, the study makes an encouraging case: low-carbon nickel sulfate is technically and economically feasible, with renewable energy the single most effective lever and the cost premium modest. For battery makers and OEMs facing the EU Battery Regulation’s coming carbon footprint thresholds, that matters, since the carbon intensity of ASEAN nickel will increasingly shape its market access. The harder challenges, deforestation, biodiversity loss and community impacts, sit beyond carbon and call for stronger governance and responsible mining frameworks alongside the decarbonisation work.

The findings point to a balancing act. ASEAN has enough nickel to support ambitious EV targets and even export surplus, but only if reserves are managed strategically through mining quotas, paced HPAL construction and active resource-to-reserve conversion. Building unchecked capacity risks depleting reserves within little more than a decade. On carbon, the study makes an encouraging case: low-carbon nickel sulfate is technically and economically feasible, with renewable energy the single most effective lever and the cost premium modest. For battery makers and OEMs facing the EU Battery Regulation’s coming carbon footprint thresholds, that matters, since the carbon intensity of ASEAN nickel will increasingly shape its market access. The harder challenges, deforestation, biodiversity loss and community impacts, sit beyond carbon and call for stronger governance and responsible mining frameworks alongside the decarbonisation work.

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Anna Broughton

Business Development Manager at Minviro

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