This report was made possible by the Pulitzer Center and The Uproot Project’s Environmental Justice Fellowship. This piece was created by Grist and later published by Rest of World.
As W.H. Wong said farewell to his family on a peaceful spring morning, he grappled with an emotional farewell. He was embarking on a journey exceeding 2,500 miles to an Indonesian island so isolated that residents claim it’s a place where spirits come to leave their progeny.
After a two-week stay in Wenxi, a modest county bustling with 350,000 inhabitants in China’s northern Shanxi Province, the 39-year-old was setting off on the exhausting 36-hour trek back to his role at Indonesia’s Weda Bay Industrial Park—the sprawling hub for metal-processing in North Maluku, part of Indonesia’s eastern chain of islands.
Indonesia holds over 40 percent of the world’s known nickel, with the expansive mountains surrounding the industrial zone in North Maluku containing the largest deposits. Wong’s journey would commence with two flights to traverse the South China Sea to Manado, a coastal city located on the northern extremity of Sulawesi, one of Indonesia’s principal islands. From there, he would board another flight to North Maluku, followed by a speedboat to Halmahera Island and a final three-hour trek across the island’s stunning white shores and verdant hills to the industrial complex where he would make his home for the next six months.
Dressed in a navy, heat-resistant suit and a yellow safety helmet, Wong undertakes 12-hour shifts operating one of the numerous furnaces within the facility. He supervises a crew of nine Chinese and 16 Indonesian workers as they manufacture nickel pig iron, essential for producing stainless steel and convertible into nickel matte, a critical cathode component in electric vehicle batteries. Over the course of each shift, Wong covers more than 20,000 steps amid temperatures of 90 degrees and a humidity level that feels akin to navigating through thick soup.
However, he confesses that the most significant challenge is the extended time away from his wife and two children, thousands of miles distant.
“If there were a job that paid enough back in China, I would never have left,” said Wong, who requested to be identified by his initials and surname due to fears of workplace repercussions.
Wufei Yu
Fleeing economic and social challenges, tens of thousands of Chinese laborers, predominantly middle-aged men, have found employment in eastern Indonesia’s burgeoning nickel industry, which has proliferated over the last decade. Just as vital minerals traverse the globe before they become integrated into advanced products, so too do some of the individuals who facilitate the realization of the world’s green aspirations.
During a seven-month investigation, Grist engaged with over a dozen Chinese workers and their families, as well as Indonesian labor representatives who have negotiated workplace conditions with Chinese leaders. Our findings indicate that even following fatalities at smelting plants, advancements in labor conditions have been sluggish, hampered by insufficient oversight from corporations, governmental bodies, and international labor organizations that lost U.S. funding under the Trump administration. Furthermore, we obtained an internal review from a nickel smelter expansion that indicates the facilities are likely disseminating pollution and health issues far beyond their limits. Despite these hurdles, new nickel processing sites continue to proliferate in Indonesia, seeking labor from China.
Before joining the nickel boom in Indonesia, most of these men spent the majority of their lives in China, toiling in collapsing steel mills. Like Wong, many had never owned a passport or taken a flight before. Their introduction into the nickel refining sector has resulted in entire communities springing up on these secluded Indonesian islands and made them an unforeseen pillar of the global energy transition.
Wufei Yu
The workforce includes hundreds of thousands of Indonesian counterparts. Despite Indonesia being the fourth most populous nation, its labor force lacks the industrial experience required in these new setups, leading companies to recruit from China. According to the Indonesian Nickel Miners Association, which represents nickel mining entities and collates data, most local workers have acquired knowledge predominantly from their more seasoned (and higher-paid) Chinese colleagues—ranging from operating heavy machinery to smelting techniques. United, the labor force endures hazardous working conditions that have largely faded in wealthier nations such as the U.S. Yet Indonesian employees face even fewer employment opportunities than their Chinese counterparts.
Nickel is vital for electric vehicle batteries and energy storage technologies. Higher nickel content in battery packs results in extended range and superior performance per charge. Over three-quarters of the cathode material for vehicles like the Tesla Cybertruck and Ford F-150 Lightning consists of nickel. Additionally, it is a crucial component in solar panels and wind turbines. The concept of a global shift away from fossil fuels could hardly be comprehensible without it. In 2022, Indonesia’s nickel production reached around 2.2 million tons, making up approximately 60 percent of global supply.
Yet this emerging energy transformation comes with a heavy cost to the workers instrumental in it. In late 2023, an explosion occurred at a nickel furnace in Sulawesi when a worker prematurely cut into a molten waste mass, resulting in the deaths of 21 workers. Burns and respiratory diseases are commonplace. In Weda Bay and other industrial facilities, it was also standard practice for companies to confiscate the passports of Chinese employees as a means of managing and controlling their labor force, a tactic that has only recently been outlawed by the Indonesian government, despite having long been condemned by the United Nations. Most Chinese workers reside in staff quarters within the compounds and often face restrictions on leaving, with some permitted only a brief window from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. each day. (When contacted, the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park explained that language barriers, cultural differences regarding issues like alcohol consumption, and potential violence prompted the restrictions on Chinese workers wishing to exit the complex.)
Indonesian laborers, Chinese corporations running nickel facilities, and global labor and environmental groups have been striving to enhance labor and living conditions. However, progress has been slow. Moreover, initiatives have encountered obstacles due to cuts in U.S. funding that affected various programs advocating for labor rights, occupational safety, and health, including those in Indonesia.
Despite the inherent risks, the potential earnings entice Chinese employees to return. With a monthly after-tax income of approximately $2,300, Wong makes more than triple the pay of an experienced worker at his previous steel plant in Wenxi, where he worked from 2010 to 2012. As the sole working individual in his family, he believes he needs at least $70,000 to prepare for his 9-year-old son’s future wedding, which traditionally includes a bride price of around $30,000 in some Chinese cultures.
“Look around at the fellow Chinese workers here,” shared Wong. “Some have gone through divorces. Others have seen their businesses fail. Then there are people like me, who are struggling to make ends meet for our families. Each of us carries different backstories and we’re all trying to envision a new future for ourselves.”
Indonesia became a hotspot for nickel smelting and manufacturing in 2014. That year, the government imposed a ban on raw ore exports to boost domestic processing capabilities and elevate exports of finished nickel products. Officials promoted the idea of “downstreaming” the industry—locally processing raw materials to enhance their value and establish dominance in the global supply chain while attracting investments and generating employment for young citizens.
Among the first to heed Indonesia’s call was the Chinese metal giant Tsingshan Holding Group. In the early 2010s, a surge in Chinese infrastructure projects compelled factories to seek nickel mines abroad to secure their steel supplies.
In July 2013, Tsingshan agreed to develop the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park, an expansive 8,000-acre complex of smelters, manufacturing facilities, and captive coal power plants, structured to support its operations and local villages without plugging into the wider grid, situated on Sulawesi’s eastern coast. In 2018, merely three years after the Morowali site began production, a similar arrangement took place 450 miles away in North Maluku to create the Weda Bay Industrial Park. Spanning 12,000 acres, its size is comparable to 14 Central Parks. By 2020, the Weda Bay facility smelted its inaugural batch of nickel, allowing Indonesia to overtake China as the world’s premier supplier of the metal, with Tsingshan standing as a key stakeholder in the nation’s largest industrial complexes.
Wufei Yu
The industry now employs over 230,000 nickel workers, attracting college graduates, farmers, teachers, and government employees from all corners of Indonesia. Tsingshan’s industrial parks comprise numerous tenant companies, generating more than half of Indonesia’s nickel output. Investments have poured in from various nations including China, South Korea, Australia, Brazil, and France into nickel refineries on Indonesia’s remote islands. The Indonesian Nickel Miners Association reports that more than 54 smelters and hydrological processing plants are operational nationwide, with an additional 92 currently in planning or construction.
“It’s nearly impossible to shift away from fossil fuels without Indonesian nickel,” contended Johnny Linghui Ni, a U.K.-based research analyst for Project Blue, which specializes in critical minerals. “This trend is set to continue at least until 2030, if not beyond.”
As Chinese companies like Tsingshan broaden their operations in Indonesia, they urgently required skilled industrial workers. China’s northern hinterlands became prime recruiting territory, particularly as that region, home to extensive heavy industries, faced considerable job losses due to a slump in construction demand stemming from declining real estate prices. Steel prices dropped significantly due to excessive factory output, prompting environmentally harmful enterprises to close or curtail their operations, compelling many working-age men to search for opportunities abroad.
Wufei Yu
Nickel refining firms commenced organizing job fairs across northern provinces, pledging to at least double workers’ monthly wages. “Tsingshan began to rapidly recruit economically-burdened factory workers in substantial numbers,” mentioned Jiahui Zeng, an anthropologist focusing on eastern Indonesia’s nickel domain at Tsinghua University. “For many Chinese nickel workers, migration is driven by familial demands, such as acquiring an apartment in a better educational district or preparing for a son’s wedding.” Yet these pressures render Chinese laborers particularly susceptible to exploitation.
“Fearful of losing their income, they are hesitant to unionize and cautious about voicing their concerns in Indonesia,” she added.
One of the earliest recruits from Wenxi was Z. Gwok, who worked from 2009 to 2015 at the local steel mill. By late 2015, burdened with significant debts, the facility laid off half its workforce, unable to sustain Gwok’s $600 monthly salary. Management offered him a six-month leave, fueling his ambitions to find a more favorable educational environment for his toddler daughter while saving up for an expensive apartment. Upon discovering the job listing at the Morowali complex, he chose to “take a chance,” as he expressed to Grist.
A few weeks later, Tsingshan brought him on board, assisting him in acquiring his first passport and flying him to the industrial park. He recalled that the company secured him a window seat, allowing him to marvel at the beauty of the ocean and the scattered islands from above. (Like many other Chinese workers Grist interviewed, Gwok opted to go by his initials and surname for fear of workplace backlash.)
Gwok operated one of the initial blast furnaces at the facility and managed a young Indonesian team, earning $1,700 monthly. Six months later, after returning home for vacation, he and other Chinese workers shared their experiences, prompting family members and friends to apply for similar openings online or attend Tsingshan’s annual recruitment events.
Wufei Yu
W.H. Wong gained knowledge of the nickel opportunities in Indonesia in 2022 while attending Tsingshan’s annual job fair back home in Wenxi following the Lunar New Year. The eye-catching salary figures displayed on the flyers, tripling his current earnings at a car exhaust pipe fabrication facility, initially struck him as dubious. “It felt too good to be genuine,” he recounted. He dismissed it as unrealistic.
However, a few months later, Wong’s middle school acquaintance, who had secured a position at the Weda Bay Industrial Park to alleviate his $60,000 business debt, sent Wong screenshots of his paychecks. Wong promptly applied for a position.
Once hired, Tsingshan conducted an orientation session in China’s coastal Fujian Province. Wong recalled the instructor stating that the industrial parks suffer over 40 severe accidents each year resulting in substantial injuries and fatalities. (Tsingshan Holding Group did not verify this information when reached out to by Grist.) “At the time, I didn’t fully comprehend,” Wong admitted.
Eventually, Wong himself experienced two frightening incidents. He first burned the back of his right hand when molten metal sprayed while crossing the waste tunnel’s exit. Another time, following heavy rainfall, shortly after ending his shift and exiting the furnace, he stepped into what he thought was a puddle, only to discover it was a neck-deep pond. Unable to swim, he managed to pull himself to safety by griping onto a nearby pole.
Sadly, others he knew weren’t as fortunate. An Indonesian coworker sustained severe finger injuries for ignoring safety protocols while attempting to manually rectify a fault in the pouring chain. Another Chinese employee who stepped onto the top of a furnace while wearing damp boots suffered electrocution and lost consciousness. (The Weda Bay Industrial Park stated that all accidents are documented and that serious instances undergo thorough investigations to enhance training and safety protocols without commenting on specific incidents.)
Nevertheless, nothing resonated more profoundly with Wong than the explosion that struck the Morowali Industrial Park on Christmas Eve in 2023. At around 5:30 a.m., a maintenance team was tasked with repairing a blast furnace. The facility had an excessive build-up of smelting waste known as slag. According to an internal communication from anonymous Chinese employees, the team was responsible for replacing deteriorated bricks while cleaning the slag.
However, the furnace had not cooled adequately when the welding operation commenced, leading to molten slag overflowing and igniting nearby storage tanks containing highly flammable chemicals. In a bid to escape, workers leapt from an opening in the furnace situated over 30 feet high. As explosions continued and smoke erupted, workers attempted to flee, some tragically collapsing in their path while others hobbled away with injuries. The incident claimed the lives of eight Chinese and 13 Indonesian workers.
Wong had just finished his night shift at the Weda Bay complex when the tragic blast took place. Shortly afterward, his WeChat buzzed with messages from friends and family expressing concern and sharing information they discovered on social media. One of the casualties was 37-year-old furnace technician Hung Chun Lie, who had immigrated to Sulawesi in 2021, hoping to repay approximately $35,000 his family borrowed for his mother’s knee surgery and to renovate their dilapidated home. Hung had plans to earn money, settle debts, and then return.
Later, Wong would find out that Lie hailed from Wenxi as well and was a distant relative. When they were children, their families would visit each other during the Lunar New Year holiday. Similar to Wong, Lie spent years mastering furnace operation at the steel mill in Wenxi, took odd jobs along China’s eastern coast for survival in light of the mill’s physical decline, and migrated to Indonesia for smelting positions. There, both shared responsibility for training junior Indonesian workers and ascended to team leader roles.
“As a lead, whenever danger strikes in your vicinity, be it on or off shift, you’re the one who must respond,” Wong told me. “I feared for my life and my family’s upon hearing of his demise. It could have easily been me.”
The devastating explosion brought increased scrutiny over the health and safety standards in the nickel industry. To address the collective concerns, top executives from Chinese investors, including Tsingshan, arranged a visit to Jakarta for a private meeting with representatives from Indonesian nickel labor organizations from Sulawesi and North Maluku in May 2024.
This marked the inaugural occasion for Chinese firms to engage directly with the local labor force in Indonesia. Two Indonesian attendees, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, disclosed to Grist that they addressed issues such as lapses in adhering to health and safety regulations, overcrowded healthcare facilities, inadequate ambulance services, and the mounting waste on roads around industrial parks. Both parties committed to establishing a robust complaint reporting mechanism facilitated by labor-focused NGOs from Hong Kong and Jakarta.
Wufei Yu
Post-meeting, both sides expressed interest in curbing health risks arising from the substantial waste produced by the rapidly growing workforce. Chinese workers typically reside within the industrial park, while many Indonesian employees rent accommodations in hastily constructed shacks nearby, lacking elementary waste disposal infrastructure. The managers at Morowali Industrial Park assured that they would establish waste processing units with a daily capacity of 80 tons, a promise made by August 2024. However, when the processors arrived, five months tardy in January, they could only manage 40 tons each day, which did little to alleviate the waste accumulating along the industrial park’s perimeters. More pressing concerns regarding worker safety and health persist unsolved.
Efforts from local and global nonprofits to enhance worker conditions have been stymied, resonating with the recent cuts initiated under the Trump administration that jeopardized critical funding programs. The International Labour Organization, an agency of the United Nations focused on advancing global labor rights, is among those organizations facing challenges. An officer with the organization, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential negotiations, confirmed that their representatives engaged with Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Indonesia’s former coordinating minister for maritime affairs and investment, regarding the Morowali accident in 2023.
Pandjaitan, who aimed to push the nation’s nickel initiatives to entice international investors, was supportive of improving occupational safety through on-site workshops. His endorsement has since enabled labor organizations to visit the Morowali Industrial Park, meet with workforce representatives in Sulawesi, and conduct at least two “constructive and cordial” discussions with Tsingshan’s executive team from China.
Last November, the group received $4 million from the U.S. Department of Labor to execute a project focused on enhancing safety and health standards at nickel smelters. Alas, interference from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency resulted in the termination of funding for this initiative in March, abruptly ending the project.
The initiative was on the verge of bringing about significant improvements not just in terms of occupational safety and health, the officer disclosed, but was also set to address issues surrounding migration, workers’ living conditions, and more, gradually improving conditions. It’s regrettable that no additional donors have stepped forward to tackle these challenges.” (As of August 27, the Department of Labor began accepting applications for a new $9 million grant aimed at promoting fair and sustainable critical mineral supply chains.)
Meanwhile, the expansion efforts at Morowali continue. In 2023, as part of the government’s assessment of a proposed 4,400-acre extension, the environmental and corporate responsibility team from the industrial park reviewed the environmental and public health implications of the facility. Grist has acquired the findings, which suggest that the plant’s detrimental impacts extend well beyond its walls.
The analysis revealed that both workers from the nickel-processing sites and nearby residents increasingly sought treatment for respiratory ailments, including tuberculosis, acute pharyngitis, and acute rhinitis. Although multi-billion dollar corporations manage the industrial park, surrounding villages still lack basic wastewater drainage systems and safe drinking water supplies. In six communities adjacent to the complex, a quarter of residents find themselves living within 30 feet of contaminated water sources, with 41 percent experiencing symptoms of chronic cough.
Wufei Yu
Recent assessments indicated a 50 percent increase in children displaying stunted growth from malnutrition and gastrointestinal infections across 12 neighboring villages over two years. “Authorities and agencies are aware of these issues,” said an environmental consultant involved in drafting the report, who preferred to remain anonymous due to fear of job reprisal. None of the health and environmental risks had existed prior to the establishment of the Morowali Industrial Park in 2013, they noted.
Despite the multitude of business and job prospects created by the compound in Morowali, the internal report indicated that “the community holds significant apprehension regarding the environmental threats posed by the park’s industrial actions and developments. If the company fails to regard environmental, health, spatial, and social-community hazards during its expansion, local resistance may be formidable.”
In June, Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment declared that they had identified “serious” environmental violations at the Morowali industrial park, leading to potential fines and further scrutiny of the company’s capability in managing wastewater and air pollution, which exceeded allowable levels, alongside unauthorized construction activities. In a July response to Grist, the Morowali Industrial Park asserted that it adheres to “Indonesian regulations governing air, water, and solid waste, and has issued directives to tenant companies” aimed at improvement. They mentioned that investments had been made to enhance equipment for air treatment, wastewater, and waste management compliant with local laws.
In correspondence with Grist, the Weda Bay Industrial Park contended that the facility and all affiliated companies conform to “relevant regulations, licensing stipulations, and operational criteria defined by the Government of Indonesia.” The firm also emphasized its commitment to “maintaining transparent communication with stakeholders and constructively addressing challenges through ongoing enhancements to its environmental management and community engagement initiatives.”
(The Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and Coordinating Ministry for Maritime and Investment Affairs in Indonesia have yet to respond to requests for comments.)
As the nickel industry expands in eastern Indonesia, the plight of Chinese migrant laborers remains a significant concern, as they are excluded from discussions regarding their occupations and safety.
In late February, I traveled to Wenxi County in Shanxi Province, China, to meet Wong during one of the two-week breaks he receives biannually. The national highway was framed by low-rise residential blocks and cornfields leading to his village. Approaching Wong’s home, the sight of towering chimneys and ovens from local steelworks overshadowed the surrounding desolate farmland in the Loess Plateau. Around the quiet concrete expanse, remnants of shuttered nightclubs and internet cafés echoed memories of the factories’ former economic prosperity.
Wufei Yu
Currently, Wenxi feels stagnant. Villages once bustling with primary schools have seen closures as families migrate to urban centers, and the absence of youths is apparent on the streets. This scenario reflects a broader trend across coal- and iron-rich Shanxi, which registered the only negative economic growth in China in 2024. The only busy spot on Wenxi’s main street was a three-star hotel serving as the venue for Tsingshan’s job fair.
Wong awaited me at the entrance of his village, greeting me warmly but speaking softly. As we settled into his living room and sampled the overly sweet instant Indonesian coffees he had transported from North Maluku, our conversation inevitably shifted toward the nickel plant.
At the start of each shift, Wong would discuss safety protocols and daily duties, an interpreter relaying information to his Indonesian team. Following supervisor instructions, he initiated the workers to place their right hand on their left chests and chant a slogan collectively: “For ourselves, our families, and our coworkers, we must adhere to standard positions, perform standard tasks, and ensure safety.”
His responsibilities included managing several 50-foot pipes utilized for injecting materials into the smelting operation and continually monitoring three overhead electrodes of the 80-foot furnace to ensure they did not exceed burn limits.
“Should one falter and we notice too late, it could spell disaster,” Wong recounted. “As I grow more familiar with the operations and their intricacies, my fear only intensifies.”
As dusk settled and the low winter sun cast an orange hue over the deserted fields surrounding his home, Wong’s wife returned with their two children from school. Wong’s son, reluctant to engage in homework, pleaded with him to play games on his mobile device.
“You need to study diligently to earn through knowledge,” Wong emphasized with a stringent tone. “You can’t depend on risking your life, like your father, to make a living. Understand?”
Sri Mauliani and Riza Salman contributed reporting and research.
