PT WHW targeting alumina production in 2016

PT Well Harvest Winning Alumina Refinery (WHW) development project continued speeding the processing of bauxite into alumina.

Li Yu Yong, Project Leader alumina smelter PT WHW, said that the company had already begun construction. This phase has been underway since 2013 and is scheduled for completion later this year.

Alumina refining is the first in Indonesia. "We are targeting next year to start production," Li said in Ketapang, West Kalimantan. The new plant is slated to produce as much as 1-4 million tonness of refined alumina per year. Later in the period 2018-2020, the capacity will be increased to 6-9 million tonnes per year and in the long term over 2021-2043, the production will go up to around 9 million to 12 million tonnes per year. "Until 2043, we target to produce 255 million tonnes," said Li.

The second option is to plan the refining of alumina in the range 2-2.5 million tonnes per year. In this option, during the period of 2016-2017, the company will be able to produce as much as 3 million tonnes per year.

PT WHW has a land area of 1,520 hectares. The refinery is equipped with supporting facilities such as living quarters, water intake, and a power plant with a capacity of 160 MW. In addition, PT WHW also has its own port for the purposes of loading and unloading alumina produced through the vessel with a capacity of 6 X 8,000 tonnes.

Until last June, the physical development progress has been 52.19% from the first phase of development with production capacity reaching up to 1 million tonnes per year. Overall investment value is US $ 2.28 billion.

Of the investment amount, approximately 76.82% is for the alumina refinery investment, 13.35% is for power plants and the remaining 8.03% is to build the port.

"As of June 2015, the value of investments that have been issued recently reached US $ 516.28 million," said Li.

PT WHW is a joint venture company formed by Harita Group with China's Hong Qiao Group Ltd and Winning Investment (HK) Ltd.