Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Company Ltd (CATL) has begun production operations at its newly-built electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Indonesia, ahead of its official inauguration by the country’s President Prabowo Subianto which is scheduled for later this month, according to local reports. Construction of the plant, in Karawang, West Java Province, began in June 2025.
The US$ 6 billion facility is controlled by PT Contemporary Amperex Technology Indonesia Battery (CATIB), a joint venture between CATL, Indonesian mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam), and PT Industri Baterai Indonesia (Indonesia Battery Corporation), a company established by the Indonesian government to help build an integrated EV battery and clean energy ecosystem in Indonesia.
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The battery plant in Karawang has an initial annual production capacity of 6.9 GWh in the first phase, with plans in place to scale capacity up to 15 GWh. CATL claims the facility is highly automated, with 80% of the production processes carried out by robots.
Most of the initial production will be supplied to the fast-expanding local EV assembly industry, which mostly produces Chinese-branded vehicles, helping the manufacturers meet the country’s minimum local content regulations.
CATIB is the third EV battery plant to begin operations in Indonesia, after Hyundai’s plant in Karawang and PT REPT Battero Indonesia, a facility located in Halmahera, North Maluku Province, owned by REPT Battero Energy Company – a subsidiary of China’s Tsingshan Group.
