Aneka Tambang may issue bonds<\/p>\n
Dow Jones, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesian state-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang, or Antam, is
\nstill considering issuing U.S. dollar bonds despite securing a
\n$318.5 million loan to help finance plans to expand its
\nferronickel mining operations.<\/p>\n
Management are concerned the loan from German credit export
\nagency Hermes Kredit Versicherungs AG may prove costly, a company
\nsource said on condition of anonymity. The loan is in dollars
\nwhile the company's costs for its expansion plans are in euros,
\nat a time when the U.S. dollar is in a downward trend globally.<\/p>\n
\"So, there is still an option to look for alternative
\nfinancing for the project,\" the source said.<\/p>\n
Antam had said it was considering issuing $150 million in
\ndollar bonds, and internal cashflow, to fund the expansion if it
\ndidn't use the loan from Hermes.<\/p>\n
A slew of Indonesian companies have issued bonds in recent
\nmonths on demand for high-yield investments from foreign
\ninvestors. Most recently, Indofood Sukses Makmur, a food
\nproduction company, was able to raise $280 million from the
\ninternational bond market.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's political stability under President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri has led foreign investors to invest in blue chip or
\nstate-owned Indonesian company paper for the first time since the
\n1997 Asian crisis.<\/p>\n
Antam has planned a third ferronickel project for the last
\nfour years, which would double its output to around 25,000 metric
\ntons a year, but has been unable to raise the necessary finances.<\/p>\n
Antam is 65 percent-owned by the Indonesian government, and is
\nlisted on both the Jakarta and Australian Stock Exchanges.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/aneka-tambang-may-issue-bonds-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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