China’s CATL seeks US$1 billion loan for Indonesia plant expansion

[HONG KONG] Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Limited (CATL), the world’s top maker of electric vehicle (EV) batteries, is seeking a loan of about US$1 billion to fund an investment in Indonesia, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The facility could carry a tenor of five to seven years, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. Proceeds will finance the firm’s joint venture (JV), which plans to build a battery cell manufacturing facility in Karawang, West Java, the sources said.

Talks with potential financiers are ongoing and the loan’s details could change, the sources said. CATL did not respond to requests for comment.

CATL’s effort to ramp up its battery-making facilities in Indonesia comes as the Chinese EV battery giant begins gauging investor interest for a potential US$5 billion share sale that could be Hong Kong’s biggest listing in years.

The company has said that it expects to see little impact from the tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on China because the company’s US exposure is “quite small”.

In October, CATL, through its subsidiary CBL International Development, formed the JV with government-owned Indonesia Battery Corp. The venture plans to invest US$1.2 billion in the South-east Asian country, scaling up the Fujian-based firm’s battery production to 15 gigawatts a year. BLOOMBERG