Indonesia's poll frontrunner doubles down on nickel boom

"This is the tenacity we must maintain. We would be better off exporting electric car batteries or electric cars, not exporting raw nickel to be processed by other countries," Mr Prabowo, the current defence minister and a former special forces commander, said last week. "The down streaming that has been carried out, such as down streaming nickel products, will continue and will be supplemented by down streaming bauxite, copper, tin, agro products and maritime products," he said. His running mate and the president's son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, has accused a rival candidate critical of Indonesia's policy of being "anti-nickel". The…