On March 4, 2026, according to reports from various foreign media, Jakarta News - The Indonesian Nickel Mining Workers' Association (APNI) recently disclosed that due to the reduction of the 2026 annual nickel mining work plan and budget (RKAB) quotas and fierce competition among domestic smelters, three nickel smelters have been forced to suspend production due to raw material shortages. APNI Secretary-General Medi Katrini Lenkay stated at the RKAB discussion held in Jakarta that the nickel mining production quota for Indonesia in 2026 was limited to 260-270 million tons, which directly led to a reduction in the consumption of nickel ore by domestic smelters. She confirmed that currently, three smelters have fallen into production suspension, namely PT Huadi Nickel Alloy Indonesia (HNAI) in South Sulawesi, PT Wanxiang Nickel Indonesia in Morowali of Central Sulawesi, and PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) in the same region. "We have confirmed that three smelters have fallen into production suspension. Huadi has completely halted production, Wanxiang has only two production lines left, and Gunbuster has shut down five out of its 20 production lines," Medi said. Behind this production suspension incident, is the production restriction measure adopted by the Indonesian government to address the global nickel price slump and oversupply situation. The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of Indonesia (ESDM) previously announced that the 2026 nickel mining production target would be reduced from 379 million tons in 2025 to 260 million tons, aiming to stabilize prices by controlling supply. However, this policy also triggered a chain reaction, causing some smelters that rely on nickel ore to be forced to reduce production or suspend operations due to insufficient quotas. It is worth noting that the smelters involved in this production suspension are all closely related to Chinese enterprises. Among them, the parent company of Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI) is China's Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry. According to an informed source, GNI's suspension is not only affected by the decline in nickel prices, but also its Chinese parent company Jiangsu Delong has fallen into operational difficulties due to debt default, which has also severely impacted its operations. As early as the beginning of 2025, GNI had suspended most of its production lines. Additionally, Huadi Nickel Alloy Indonesia (HNAI) was reported to have completely stopped operations since July 2025 and carried out large-scale layoffs. As a global stainless steel giant, the青山 Holding Group's stainless steel production lines were previously reported to have undergone partial production suspension and maintenance due to weak market demand and cost pressure. APNI Secretary-General Medi pointed out that the current nickel price continues to decline， while production costs are rising， which has severely compressed the profit margins of smelters and even led to losses. She warned that the remaining smelters should not blindly expand production， as the Indonesian government has introduced new regulations encouraging enterprises to transform into downstream high-value-added products such as battery-grade products， rather than continuing to produce nickel pig iron (NPI) and other intermediate products. The Indonesian government believes that this production restriction is a necessary adjustment. Member of the National Economic Committee (DEN) Septian Hariyo Seto said that if the RKAB is not restricted， more smelters will go bankrupt due to market oversupply. He emphasized that the government's goal is to maintain the healthy development of the entire industry， rather than the interests of a single enterprise.
Regarding Kesheng and Delong, a large number of nickel-iron smelting production lines in Indonesia have been shut down.
2026 03/19