Antam's ferronickel smelter ready by 2002

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) announced on Tuesday that construction of its third ferronickel smelter in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi, would commence at the end of 1999, after being postponed for over a year.

The project would be carried out by Mitsui & Co. Ltd., of Japan, which beat five other bidders during a limited international tender last year, Aneka Tambang said in a statement.

Mitsui will be responsible for conducting the engineering, procurement and construction of the facility, called FeNi III.

It is scheduled for completion in 28 months, and becomes operational by 2002 with an annual capacity of 13,000 tons.

FeNi III, which is to be built alongside the FeNi I and FeNi II smelters, would increase Aneka Tambang's ferronickel annual production to 24,000 tons, it said.

As part of the agreement signed last month, Aneka Tambang and Mitsui will form an independent power producer joint venture to build a power plant for the three smelters. This project will take 21 months to complete.

The smelting project's construction was postponed from the original schedule of mid-1998 due to complications in arranging debt financing following the economic crisis.

The financing scheme, which is supported by Japan's Exim Bank, does not require the Indonesian government to act as guarantor or borrower for the project.

The project would also be funded from Aneka Tambang's Initial Price Offering (IPO) of November 1997, it said.

The company said last year that total investment for the new smelter would amount to Rp 281.4 billion (US$40.2 million).

Aneka Tambang is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange. Its share price has remained stable between Rp 1,500 and Rp 1,600 since February. (02)