Aneka Tambang plans to make stainless steel

Aneka Tambang plans to make stainless steel

JAKARTA (JP): PT Aneka Tambang, the state-owned company operating a nickel mine in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi, plans to produce stainless steel, expecting it to become one of its core- businesses by the year 2000.

The head of Aneka Tambang's Pomalaa unit, Bachruddin, announced in Kendari yesterday that world demand for stainless steel has increased due to the high cost of using other kinds of steel, which is corrosive in nature.

Stainless steel is used for, among other things, cars, aircraft, nuclear reactors, house utensils and furniture.

"A survey concluded recently that the cost of preventing corrosion in Indonesia has already reached Rp 2 trillion (US$840.3 million) a year," Bachruddin was quoted by Antara as saying in Kendari. He did not elaborate.

He said that establishing a stainless steel plant takes a big investment. "We, therefore, will cooperate with Japan, one of the world's major producers of stainless steel," he added.

He mentioned a shortage of electricity that could hinder the planned project. Currently, the unit has a power generator with a capacity of only 45 megawatts, while a stainless steel plant requires a power plant with a generation capacity of about 90 megawatts.

"We're now looking into the possibility of building a hydropower plant on a river near Kendari, the capital city of Southeast Sulawesi.

Currently, the Pomalaa unit only produces 200,000 tons of nickel ore and 11,000 tons of ferronickel per year.

Bachruddin noted that his company also plans to construct two more ferronickel plants to increase its production capacity.

"Our current production cannot meet the growing demand," he said, adding that each of the new plants will have a production capacity of 5,100 tons per year, increasing the company's total production to 21,200 tons per year starting in 1999. (13)