Antam expects to get $120m loan

Antam expects to get $120m loan

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed general mining company PT Aneka
Tambang (Antam) expects to obtain a US$120 million loan from the
German-based IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG to boost its nickel
production capacity to 24,000 tons from it current 11,000 tons, a
company executive said.

The company's president Dedi Aditya Sumanagara told reporters
on Thursday that the loan would partly finance the expansion of
its smelter, under its FeNi III project in Pomalaa, Southeast
Sulawesi.

Antam hopes the loan will be disbursed in June this year, he
said.

"We certainly need the loan to increase our production
capacity to meet increasing demands," he said, adding that the
German bank had already carried out its assessment of Antam's
financial capability to repay the loan.

Spokesman Dohar Siregar told The Jakarta Post that the loan
would be part of the $210 million needed to finance the
expansion.

He said the other $100 million would come from other sources,
including the company itself.

Dohar said the company selected German-based Tessag AG to
construct the smelter through an open bidding which was held
early last year.

The expansion will enable Antam to fulfill a 10-year contract
to deliver 7,000 metric tons of nickel to South Korea and 8,000
tons to Germany.

Antam produced approximately 10,100 tons of nickel in 2000, up
4 percent from the previous year.

While its gold production rose 38 percent to reach about 4,000
tons last year from 2,900 tons in 1999.

The company exports its nickel mostly to Germany, Korea,
Taiwan and Japan, and its gold to Singapore, Korea and Hong
Kong.(05)