Two Chinese companies and Vale Indonesia, a subsidiary of Brazilian miner Vale SA, have formed a joint venture to build and operate a nickel processing plant in Indonesia, the People’s Daily reports.

Vale Indonesia owns 49 per cent of the venture, while Shandong Xinhai Technology Co. Ltd and Taiyuan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of state-owned China Baowu Steel Group Corp. Ltd, together own the rest, according to a report carried by the Chinese Communist Party newspaper last Friday, the day after the joint venture agreement was signed.

The report says the venture will build eight ferronickel processing lines in Bahodopi, on the central Indonesian island of Sulawesi, with a view to producing 73,000 tonnes of nickel a year, eventually.

To limit its carbon emissions, the plant will run on electricity from a power station fuelled by natural gas, the People’s Daily says.