Antam to build new plant soon

JAKARTA: State-owned nickel mining company PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) will start building its third ferronickel plant in Pomala'a, North Sulawesi, within this quarter of the year, a senior official of the company said on Thursday.

The plant, better known as FeNi III, worth US$250 million, would have a production capacity of 13,300 tons per year, Antam's director Soehardjito Sidik was quoted by Antara as saying on Thursday.

Soehardjito added that the construction process would take 28 months and the plant would start producing ferronickel by mid- 2004.

At present, the company produces 10,300 tons from two plants in the location. --JP