CDB provides $384 million loan for Phase 1 of Sulawesi Mining Power Station Project in Morowali Industrial Park (Linked to Record ID#61986, #66207, #66216, #69488, #85817)

Project narrative

On February 17, 2014, the Xiamen Branch of China Development Bank and Tsingshan Holding Group (青山控股集团有限公司) signed a $384 million loan agreement for Phase 1 of Sulawesi Mining Power Station Project. The loan has a 10-year maturity. However, its interest rate is unknown. The purpose of this $628 million investment project was to construct two 65MW coal-fired power plants to support a 300,000-ton ferronickel (pig iron) smelter. PT Sulawesi Mining Investment (SMI) — a 45%-55% joint venture between Indonesia's nickel mining PT Bintang Delapan Group and Tsingshan's NPI production subsidiary Dingxin Group — was responsible for project implementation. SMI was granted extraction rights to 47,040 hectares of laterite nickel ore mining land. The project site is located in Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) within Sulawesi Province (referred to as 中国印尼综合产业园区青山园区 or 印尼经贸合作区青山园区 in Chinese). Its precise locational coordinates are -2.8255878, 122.1554483. On 2nd October 2013, Dingxin Group and Bintang Delapan Group signed an agreement to establish the China-Indonesia Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (“IMIP”), creating a key commercial cooperation project for the two countries. Dingxin owns 66.25% of the park, and Bintang Delapan Group owns 33.75% of the park. China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund also signed an investment and financing agreement on the same day to develop a ferro-nickel smelter in the park with an annual production capacity of 300,000 tons of ferro-nickel for exports. This is likely referring to the same project that is captured in this record. The signing ceremony was witnessed by President Xi Jinping and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. IMIP occupies an area of 2012 hectares and will host a stainless steel production plant. Construction began on July 16, 2013, and trial production began in January 2015. On May 29, 2015, the project was officially completed. China Eximbank, ICBC, and Bank of China financed Phase 2 of the Sulawesi Mining Power Station Project in Morowali Industrial Park (as captured in Record ID#66207). CDB and Bank of China financed Phase 3 of the Sulawesi Mining Power Station Project in Morowali Industrial Park (as captured in Record ID#66216 and ID#69488). China Eximbank financed Phase 4 of the Sulawesi Mining Power Station Project in Morowali Industrial Park (as captured in #85817). Multiple deaths have occurred at power station including: the death of a Chinese worker after being run over in 2022, the death of Indonesian workers in 2022 after a furnace exploded, the death of two workers in 2023 after collapse of a nickel waste disposal site, and an explosion in December 2023 which killed 21 workers and injured dozens. Two Chinese nationals, who were responsible for the operation of the furnace when it exploded in December 2023, were arrested for negligence.