China Everbright Bank participates in $760 million syndicated loan for Indonesia Huayou Nickel and Cobalt Project (Linked to Record ID#96397, #96398, and #96399)

Project narrative

On August 27, 2021, the Agricultural Bank of China, China Citic Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Minsheng Bank, Export-Import Bank of China, and Ping An Bank signed a bank consortium agreement for the Indonesia Huayou Nickel and Cobalt Project. Then, on October 28, 2021, PT Huayu Nickel Cobalt [华飞镍钴（印尼）有限公司] — a special purpose vehicle and a joint venture of Huayou International Mining (Hong Kong) Limited (20% ownership stake), EVE Asia Co., Ltd. (17% ownership stake), Yongrui Holdings (31% ownership stake), Glaucous International Pte Ltd (30% ownership stake), and Lindo Investment Pte Ltd (2% ownership stake) — signed a $760 million syndicated loan agreement with Agricultural Bank of China, China Citic Bank, China Everbright Bank, China Minsheng Bank, Export-Import Bank of China and Ping An Bank for the Indonesia Huayou Nickel and Cobalt Project. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that the loan is supported by a Sinosure credit insurance policy. Agricultural Bank of China's contribution to the syndicate is captured via Record ID#96397. The Export-Import Bank of China's contribution is captured via Record ID#96398. China Citic Bank's contribution is captured via Record ID#96399. China Everbright Bank's contribution is captured via Record ID#96400. The purpose of the $1.28 billion project is to construct a nickel and cobalt smelter at a new facility located at Weda Bay on Halmahera Island. Upon completion, the facility is expected to produce 120,000 tons of nickel and 15,000 tons of cobalt annually. Metallurgical Corporation of China Limited is the EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. On December 1, 2021, PT Huayu Nickel Cobalt reportedly produced its first output after starting trial production in November 2021. Then, on February 25, 2022, a formal groundbreaking ceremony took place. In February 2022, the first batch of mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP) — a product used to be processed into nickel and cobalt chemicals for EV batteries — was also shipped to China's Ningbo port in February 2022. Then, on June 7, 2022, the first batch of components for the main steel structure manufacturing component of the project was delivered. The originally scheduled project completion date was October 16, 2022.