Harita Group
Harita Group is an Indonesian, Lim-family-controlled conglomerate focused on mining, mineral processing, plantations, shipping, timber, coal, and property.
Last updated August 26, 2026
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Overview
Harita Group is an Indonesian business conglomerate controlled by the Lim family. Its principal activities are concentrated in natural resources and associated processing, with operations spanning nickel mining and refining, bauxite mining and alumina production, palm oil plantations, timber, coal, shipping, and property development. The group’s business model has evolved from commodity trading and timber into an integrated resources platform that combines extraction, processing infrastructure, logistics, and selected downstream or real-estate activities. The group traces its origins to 1915, when Lim Tju King, an immigrant from China, established a small trading shop at Long Iram in inland East Kalimantan near the Mahakam River. His son, Lim Hariyanto Wijaya Sarwono, later took over the business and shifted its emphasis toward timber. The family first traded timber, then entered timber concessions and plywood manufacturing, including a plywood operation established in 1983. This provided the foundation for a broader expansion strategy based on joint ventures and participation in Indonesia’s resource sectors. During the late 1980s, Harita expanded beyond timber. In 1988, it entered gold mining through Kelian Equatorial Mining, a joint venture with Rio Tinto Group, and also moved into coal mining. The group subsequently diversified into palm oil plantations in 1998, bauxite mining in 2003, and nickel mining in 2004. These additions positioned Harita across several of Indonesia’s major export-oriented commodities rather than tying the group to a single resource. A major strategic change followed Indonesia’s 2014 ban on exports of unprocessed minerals. Harita and its partners responded by investing in domestic processing capacity, including a ferronickel smelter reported to have cost approximately US$400 million and an alumina refinery reported to have cost approximately US$900 million. These projects reflected the group’s move toward downstream processing and greater alignment with Indonesian industrial-policy requirements. In December 2019, Glencore became a partner in the aluminium business by acquiring an 18 percent interest in the Indonesian-listed company PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk through a rights issue valued at US$93 million. In June 2021, Harita commissioned Indonesia’s first high-pressure acid leaching plant. The plant produces mixed hydroxide precipitate, an intermediate material used in the manufacture of electric-vehicle batteries. The project was reported to have an estimated cost of approximately US$1 billion and marked a further step from mining raw materials toward processing products used in energy-transition supply chains. Harita also maintains businesses outside its principal minerals platform. Its coal division was established in 1996 with Thai coal producer Lanna Resources Pcl to develop Indonesian coal deposits. In property, the group partnered in 2018 with Singapore-listed Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd on a development project in Sentul City, Indonesia. The group’s current chief executive is Lim Gunawan Hariyanto. Harita remains primarily an Indonesian resources conglomerate, with its identity defined by family control, long-term commodity exposure, joint-venture development, and investment in domestic processing.
History
Harita Group began in 1915 when Lim Tju King, an immigrant from China, opened a small trading shop in Long Iram, inland from the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan. The enterprise was subsequently taken over by his son, Lim Hariyanto Wijaya Sarwono. Under the second generation of family leadership, the business moved toward timber, initially through timber trading and later through timber concessions and plywood manufacturing. A plywood manufacturing activity was established in 1983, giving the family a more substantial industrial base in Indonesia's forest-products economy. The group began a period of accelerated diversification in the late 1980s, using joint ventures as a principal means of entering new sectors. In 1988, it entered gold mining through Kelian Equatorial Mining, a joint venture with Rio Tinto Group. It also entered coal mining during the same year. These moves reduced the group's dependence on timber and established a broader natural-resources portfolio. Harita continued adding resource sectors over the following decades. A coal division was established in 1996 with Thai coal producer Lanna Resources Pcl to develop Indonesian deposits. The group entered palm oil plantations in 1998, bauxite mining in 2003, and nickel mining in 2004. This sequence created exposure to both established Indonesian commodities, such as coal, timber, and palm oil, and minerals with increasing importance to industrial supply chains. Indonesia's 2014 prohibition on exports of raw minerals encouraged a major change in the group's investment priorities. Rather than relying only on the export of mined ore, Harita and its partners developed domestic processing capacity. The group built a ferronickel smelter with a reported investment of approximately US$400 million and an alumina refinery reported to have cost approximately US$900 million. These facilities represented a downstream strategy intended to process Indonesian resources domestically and produce higher-value intermediate materials. The aluminium business subsequently attracted an international partner. In December 2019, Glencore acquired an 18 percent stake in PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk through a rights issue for approximately US$93 million. The transaction made Glencore a partner in the group's aluminium activities and connected Harita's bauxite and alumina interests with a major global commodities company. Harita's nickel strategy also moved further downstream. In June 2021, the group commissioned Indonesia's first high-pressure acid leaching plant. The facility produces mixed hydroxide precipitate, which is used as a raw material in electric-vehicle battery production. The plant's estimated cost was approximately US$1 billion. This investment linked Harita's traditional mining operations to the emerging battery-materials value chain. Alongside mining and processing, the group has retained interests in plantations, shipping, timber, coal, and property. In 2018, it partnered with Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd on a property project in Sentul City. The group is controlled by the Lim family, and Lim Gunawan Hariyanto is identified as its current chief executive. Its development reflects a long-running pattern of family ownership, commodity diversification, joint-venture participation, and increasing emphasis on domestic processing.
- 2021
High-pressure acid leaching plant commissioned
[1]Harita commissioned Indonesia's first HPAL plant, producing mixed hydroxide precipitate for battery-material supply chains.
- 2019
Glencore joins the aluminium business
[1]Glencore acquired an 18 percent interest in PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk through a rights issue.
- 2018
Property partnership in Sentul City
[1]Harita partnered with Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd on a property project in Sentul City.
- 2014
Downstream-processing response to Indonesia's raw-mineral export ban
[1]Following Indonesia's ban on exports of raw minerals, Harita and its partners invested in ferronickel smelting and alumina refining.
- 2004
Entry into nickel mining
[1]Harita entered nickel mining, which later became a foundation for ferronickel and battery-material processing.
- 2003
Entry into bauxite mining
[1]The group entered bauxite mining, later supporting its alumina-processing strategy.
- 1998
Entry into palm oil plantations
[1]Harita diversified into palm oil plantations.
- 1996
Coal division established
[1]The group established a coal division with Lanna Resources Pcl to develop Indonesian coal deposits.
- 1988
Expansion into gold and coal
[1]Harita entered gold mining through Kelian Equatorial Mining with Rio Tinto and also entered coal mining.
- 1983
Entry into plywood manufacturing
[1]The family expanded its timber interests into plywood manufacturing after earlier involvement in timber trading and concessions.
Products and positioning
A family-controlled Indonesian natural-resources conglomerate that combines upstream extraction with downstream mineral processing and related logistics, plantations, and property interests.
Mining · 2004
Nickel mining
Nickel mining has been part of Harita Group's portfolio since 2004. The activity supplies ore for the group's downstream metallurgical investments and supports its participation in the rapidly developing Indonesian nickel and battery-materials industry.
Mineral processing · 2014
Ferronickel
Harita and its partners developed a ferronickel smelter after Indonesia restricted exports of unprocessed minerals in 2014. Ferronickel is a processed nickel product commonly used in stainless-steel production and represents the group's move from ore extraction into domestic value-added processing.
Mineral processing · 2014
Alumina
The group's bauxite activities are linked to alumina refining. Harita and its partners invested in an alumina refinery following Indonesia's raw-mineral export restrictions, creating a domestic processing route between bauxite mining and the aluminium industry.
Battery materials · 2021
Mixed hydroxide precipitate
Harita's HPAL plant produces mixed hydroxide precipitate, an intermediate feedstock used in electric-vehicle battery-material supply chains. Commissioned in 2021, the facility extends the group's nickel business into a higher-value application associated with energy-transition technologies.
Mining · 2003
Bauxite
Harita entered bauxite mining in 2003. Bauxite is the principal ore used to produce alumina, making it a foundational resource within the group's aluminium-related business.
Plantation products · 1998
Palm oil
The group diversified into palm oil plantations in 1998. This business broadened Harita's agricultural and land-based resource exposure beyond mining, timber, and energy commodities.
Forest products · 1983
Timber and plywood
Timber was the principal sector into which the founding trading business expanded under Lim Hariyanto Wijaya Sarwono. Harita developed interests in timber trading, concessions, and plywood manufacturing, making forest products an early industrial pillar of the group.
Energy and mining · 1988
Coal
Harita entered coal mining in 1988 and later formalized a coal division with Lanna Resources Pcl in 1996. The business forms part of the group's broader Indonesian commodity portfolio.
Real estate · 2018
Property development
Property is a non-resource activity within Harita's diversified portfolio. In 2018, the group partnered with Perennial Real Estate Holdings Ltd on a development project in Sentul City, Indonesia.
Brand decisions
2021
Commission Indonesia's first HPAL plantProduct launchBackground
Growing demand for battery materials created an opportunity to process nickel into an intermediate used in electric-vehicle supply chains.
Action taken
Harita commissioned a high-pressure acid leaching plant producing mixed hydroxide precipitate.
Aftermath
The project expanded Harita's nickel operations into battery-material processing and was reported to have an estimated cost of approximately US$1 billion.
Estimated project cost. Approximately US$1 billion (June 2021)
2019
Bring Glencore into the aluminium businessM&ABackground
Harita's bauxite and alumina activities required capital and commercial partnerships within the international aluminium industry.
Action taken
Glencore acquired an 18 percent stake in PT Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk through a rights issue for approximately US$93 million.
Aftermath
Glencore became a partner in Harita's aluminium business.
Rights-issue investment. US$93 million (December 2019)
2014
Invest in domestic mineral-processing capacityStrategyBackground
Indonesia prohibited exports of raw minerals, increasing pressure on mining companies to process ore domestically.
Action taken
Harita and its partners developed a ferronickel smelter and an alumina refinery.
Aftermath
The investments strengthened Harita's downstream position in nickel and aluminium-related materials.
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