Chemical Alumina Plant in Indonesia Commences Commissioning on Oct 28

Showa Denko K.K. and PT ANTAM of Indonesia, held a ceremony for the commencement of commissioning phase of a new chemical alumina plant in the Tayan District. West Kalimantan, Indonesia, on October 28 as a milestone of the construction project that started in April 2011. After going through the commissioning phase and prospective clients' assessment of product quality, the new plant with production capacity of 300,000 t/y will start mass production and sales of chemical alumina in the second half of 2014.

The term "chemical alumina" refers collectively to aluminum hydroxide and alumina for applications other than aluminum smelting. Chemical alumina is used for various industrial applications including chemicals for water treatment, refractories, abrasives, building materials, IC packaging, and materials for LCD glass.

SDK has already decided to terminate disposal of bauxite residue into the sea by the end of 2015 and withdraw from the chemical alumina production at Yokohama. SDK will use chemical alumina products from the new plant in Indonesia to replace the current products from its Yokohama Plant, and sell them to customers inside and outside Japan. Chemical alumina products from the new plant will also be sold in Indonesia and neighboring countries to meet growing demand for use in water treatment and refractories.

PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA), which is owned 80% by ANTAM and 20% by SDK, will operate the new chemical alumina plant.

With the transfer of industrial technology to produce chemical alumina built up over many years' operation of its Yokohama Plant to the new plant in Indonesia, SDK will meet an increasing demand for chemical alumina in the growing Southeast Asian market by ensuring stable supply of the product, and pursue further expansion of its chemical alumina business.