Construction of Semen Kupang II under way

JAKARTA (JP): The minister of transportation, Haryanto Dhanutirto, broke the ground yesterday at Semen Kupang's second plant in Kupang.

He said the cement company's expansion was necessary to meet eatern Indonesia's growing demand for cement.

"Demand for cement in the eastern part is growing at an average of 14.6 percent a year," he said.

State-owned PT Semen Kupang's president, H.M. Satar Taba, said in Kupang the plant would cost Rp 110 billion (US$46.8 million) and be finished in two years.

He said 75 percent of the money would be borrowed from state- owned Bank Bumi Daya and the rest from the company's equity.

"The second plant will start production in 1999 with a capacity of 300,000 tons a year," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said the first plant's capacity was 270,000 tons a year.

Satar said cement from the two plants would be sold in West and East Nusa Tengara, Maluku, East Timor and Irian Jaya.

The operation of the second plant would cut the company's production costs by about 35 percent.

The company posted a net profit of Rp 6.1 billion last year, down 9.8 percent on 1995's Rp 6.7 billion.

During the ground breaking ceremony, Haryanto said PT Elnusa, a subsidiary of state oil firm Pertamina, and PT Saranagraha Adipermata, had set up a joint venture firm, PT Timor Nusa Adipermata, to build a logistics base for the exploitation of the Timor gap in Pelabuhan Bolok, near Kupang.

PT Timor Nusa Adipermata chief Gunarno said the base would cost about US$15 million and would be completed next March. (bnt)