Asphalt production halted

JAKARTA (JP): PT Amerta Mardayasa Aspal, an Australia- affiliated firm producing asphalt in Buton, Southeast Sulawesi, has terminated production due to difficulties to market its products, an executive said.

The company's president, John Huliselan, was quoted yesterday by Antara as saying that his company faced difficulties in marketing its butonite mastic asphalt because the product is not popular among road developers, who still prefer using oil-waste asphalts.

"We are compelled to stop our production because almost no one has bought our asphalt since it was launched in the market five years ago," Huliselan said.

The company built its asphalt production facilities in 1991 with a capacity of 30,000 tons per annum. It had initially planned to expand its capacity to 60,000 tons per annum by last year.

Besides butonite mastic asphalt, the company also produces micro-asphalt with a total output of 50,000 tons per annum. However, it manages to sell only 20,000 tons of micro-asphalt per annum. (rid)