US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy calls out Indonesian nickel rush as ‘unchecked exploitation’

US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy has taken a veiled swipe at the state-owned Chinese mining companies in Indonesia that are squeezing WA nickel producers out of the market.

The diplomat and daughter of late US President John F. Kennedy told a Perth mining audience on Wednesday morning that the commodities they manage were “under assault”.

She also lauded Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King as a “tireless advocate” for international safety standards in the mining sector.

Her comments come just months after nickel prices cascaded to devastating lows and forced most WA nickel producers to scale back production or shut mines entirely.

Crashing prices have largely been blamed on a flood of new supply from Indonesia, which has been steadily shoring up its refining capabilities of the steel and battery-making mineral to boost its export value.

Plunging prices triggered a government-backed push by Australian nickel companies to lobby international markets and automakers to pay a premium for their “greener” product, which they claim is produced with better safety and environmental standards.

“Minister King is a tireless advocate for international standards that protect the health and safety of workers and the environment, rather than allow unchecked exploitation by state-owned Chinese companies in Indonesia and elsewhere,” Ms Kennedy said.

“We can’t let vulnerable communities be destroyed, and the markets for Australian minerals, under the guise of economic development.

“The commodities you manage are not only the basis for our economies. Our future national security, and the health of our planet depends on them as well. And they are under assault.”

Ms Kennedy said WA was at the “centre” of Australia’s close alliance with the US, and that the superpower was gearing up to hand out more offtakes and economic support to local miners, which are looking to government support in the rush to source cash for new, big critical minerals projects.

US export credit agency EXIM Bank was “looking for new projects in Australia”, the ambassador said.

“EXIM has already signed a letter of interest with Liontown and hopefully another WA project will be next,” she said, later adding that US automakers had lined up more than $19 billion in offtake agreements in Australia, with “much more coming”.

Lithium hopeful Liontown Resources was backed by EXIM in late 2023 for its Kathleen Valley project in the Goldfields, and also has an offtake deal in place with US carmaker Ford.