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Antam’s Alumina refinery in Indonesia to start operations in April
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
2 min read
State-controlled miner Aneka Tambang plans to start commercial operations of its $450 million aluminum processing plant located in Tayan, West Kalimantan in April, trying to fulfill a government requirement on the export of value-added minerals.
Tri Hartono, corporate secretary of the company known as Antam, confirmed to Jakarta Globe on Monday that commercial production of chemical-grade alumina (CGA) will start in April.
That would come three months after the government’s implementation of a ban on raw exports of minerals. All ore must be processed into refined products for shipment overseas to meet a Jan. 12 deadline. Miners that fail to meet the requirement risk losing their operating licenses.
The CGA plant, which will be operated by Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA), an 80 percent subsidiary of Antam, will process Antam’s bauxite ore, and it can produce up to 330,693 metric tons of CGA per year. Showa Denko, a giant Japanese chemical engineering company, owns the remaining 20 percent stake in ICA.
Construction of the plant, which can process 850,000 tons of bauxite ore per year, began in April 2011, and it was commissioned in October 2012. Since then it has been producing around 70 percent of its total capacity in a trial run.
Antam chief executive Tato Miraza had said in October that full production was expected in March or April 2014.
Antam plans to export the bulk of its CGA — at 200,000 tons per year — to Japan, while the remaining amount will be sold to markets outside Japan, including for domestic use in Indonesia. CGA is widely used in the production of electronic components, building materials and integrated circuits.
The CGA plant was financed by Antam and Showa Denko’s equity investments in ICA as well as bank loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Trust & Banking.
Antam is also working on other big projects that will add value to mineral ores, including the expansion of ferronickel production — which is processed from nickel ore — at a plant in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi. That project, estimated to cost $573 million, should boost production capacity to around 27,557 tons to 29,762 tons of ferronickel per year in 2016 from around 19,841 tons now. Tri also said Antam plans to boost ferronickel output by 10 percent to 15 percent this year, as well as to increase gold sales by about 10 percent.
Tri Hartono, corporate secretary of the company known as Antam, confirmed to Jakarta Globe on Monday that commercial production of chemical-grade alumina (CGA) will start in April.
That would come three months after the government’s implementation of a ban on raw exports of minerals. All ore must be processed into refined products for shipment overseas to meet a Jan. 12 deadline. Miners that fail to meet the requirement risk losing their operating licenses.
The CGA plant, which will be operated by Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA), an 80 percent subsidiary of Antam, will process Antam’s bauxite ore, and it can produce up to 330,693 metric tons of CGA per year. Showa Denko, a giant Japanese chemical engineering company, owns the remaining 20 percent stake in ICA.
Construction of the plant, which can process 850,000 tons of bauxite ore per year, began in April 2011, and it was commissioned in October 2012. Since then it has been producing around 70 percent of its total capacity in a trial run.
Antam chief executive Tato Miraza had said in October that full production was expected in March or April 2014.
Antam plans to export the bulk of its CGA — at 200,000 tons per year — to Japan, while the remaining amount will be sold to markets outside Japan, including for domestic use in Indonesia. CGA is widely used in the production of electronic components, building materials and integrated circuits.
The CGA plant was financed by Antam and Showa Denko’s equity investments in ICA as well as bank loans from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Mizuho Bank and Sumitomo Trust & Banking.
Antam is also working on other big projects that will add value to mineral ores, including the expansion of ferronickel production — which is processed from nickel ore — at a plant in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi. That project, estimated to cost $573 million, should boost production capacity to around 27,557 tons to 29,762 tons of ferronickel per year in 2016 from around 19,841 tons now. Tri also said Antam plans to boost ferronickel output by 10 percent to 15 percent this year, as well as to increase gold sales by about 10 percent.
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