The ban hammer is for new RKEF lines, not HPAL - have another...

The ban hammer is for new RKEF lines, not HPAL - have another read of the article you linked.

Nickel downstreaming is one of Jokowi's signature policies. His endgame is to bring as much battery grade nickel production online as possible, to support the EV battery industry. Prabowo has already publicly committed to continuing the policy should he take this year's elections (seems near certain at this point, but hey, Indonesian politics is full of surprises).

Indonesia is currently pulling out all the stops to accelerate HPAL investment, not stop it:

• Chinese commitment to bring more HPAL capacity online in Indonesia was one of the key outcomes from Jokowi's meeting with Xi Jinping a few months back (https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20231018133458-4-481592/oleh-oleh-dari-jokowi-china-mau-bangun-pabrik-lithium-di-ri).
• And barely a month ago, the director of mineral downstreaming at BKPM (Investment Coordinating Board) was working the press circuit talking about how much easier he was going to make it to get a HPAL construction license issued. "Kami beri karpet merah untuk perusahaan yang ingin bangun HPAL" / "We'll roll out the red carpet for companies who wish to build HPAL (plants)" (https://www.msn.com/id-id/ekonomi/bisnis/terkini-bisnis-pemerintah-akan-permudah-izin-bagi-perusahaan-yang-mau-bangun-smelter-hpal-gurita-bisnis-ryan-harris/ar-AA1kkzQF)

What is happening now in HPAL investment is reminiscent of what was happening in RKEF space 7-8 years back, and we all know how that ended for NPI pricing...