Altech Chemicals secures Johor land for its High Purity Alumina plant

Altech Chemicals Limited announced that it has now secured land in the Tanjung Langsat Industrial Complex, Johor, Malaysia for its proposed high purity alumina (HPA) plant.

The company has reserved a ~4 hectare site in a section of the industrial complex that is set aside for chemical facilities. The site is initially reserved until 30 December 2015 and upon execution of an option to lease, will be leased for a period of thirty years, with an option to renew. The land reservation and option to lease has been secured with a non-refundable deposit of MYR300,000, that is credited against the 30-year lease payment on exercise of the option.

As previously announced, the company selected Tanjung Langsat as the location for its proposed HPA plant based on significant economic and developmental benefits including the ready availability of required consumables such as hydrochloric acid, limestone, quicklime, power and natural gas - all at highly competitive prices. The availability of skilled labour, proximity to an international container sea-port and international airports (Johor Bahru and Singapore) and the various investment incentives on offer were additional benefits.

Feedstock for the HPA plant will be sourced from the Company's 100% owned aluminous clay (kaolin) deposit at Meckering, Western Australian. Approximately 18,565tpa of beneficiated kaolin will be containerised (using 2 tonne "bulka bags") and transported via road to the port of Fremantle, Western Australia (a distance of ~153kms). The containers will be shipped from Fremantle to the port of Tanjung Pelepas (a container port located in south-western Johor, Malaysia ~90kms by road from Tanjung Langsat) and then transported via road from Tanjung Pelepas to Tanjung Langsat.

Operating costs for in Malaysia the HPA plant are estimated to be in the region of 40% lower compared to an equivalent plant operated in Western Australia. In addition, the shipping of the Company's final HPA product from the Tanjung Langsat international sea container port to nearby Asian markets will provide both cost and delivery time advantages. Overall, Altech expects its proposed HPA plant to be in the bottom quartile of the operating cost curve for the world's HPA producers.

Altech's HPA project has the potential to enhance the Malaysian region's HPA value-add chain, as sapphire glass producers such as Rubicon Technology currently operate a facility in Malaysia.