Export-oriented ammonia plants needed: Official
Export-oriented ammonia plants needed: Official
JAKARTA (JP): Director General of Chemical Industries Sujata
called on private investors yesterday to build ammonia plants for
export purposes.
"Currently we export our gas in the form of liquefied natural
gas (LNG). Why don't we make some of our gas into ammonia which
is more expensive and export it," Sujata said on the second day
of the seventh convention of the Association of Indonesian
Chemical Engineers at the Equatorial Hotel.
He noted that ammonia sells much better than LNG on the
international market. The prices of LNG currently range from
US$2.50 to $3.50 per million BTU (British thermal units), while
ammonia sells at $230 per ton. One ton of ammonia needs 35
million BTU of LNG.
Indonesia is the largest producer of LNG in the world, with a
total production capacity of 22.2 million tons per year, or 30.2
percent of the total capacity of the existing liquefaction plants
in the world. Indonesia exports all of its LNG output to Japan,
South Korea and Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Indonesia currently exports only a small amount of
ammonia since most ammonia produced here is used to produce urea
fertilizer. All ammonia plants in Indonesia are integrated with
fertilizer plants.
In addition to urea fertilizer, ammonia is used as a
supporting material for the production of various products,
including textiles, paper, soft drinks and preservatives for
agricultural produce.
"When we make ammonia into urea fertilizer, it means we have
made it into another higher value product," Sujata said, adding
that urea currently sells at $205 per ton on the international
market. One ton of ammonia can make 1.7 tons of urea.
Indonesia has six fertilizer plants with a total combined
installed capacity of 6.16 million tons of urea per annum.
The six plants -- PT Petrokimia Gresik, PT Pupuk Sriwijaya, PT
Pupuk Kalimantan Timur, PT Pupuk Kujang, PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda
and PT Aceh Asean Fertilizer -- need a total of 657 million
standard cubic feet of gas per day or eight percent of total gas
output in Indonesia.
Production
Last year Indonesia's gas production stood at 2.94 trillion
standard cubic feet, of which 56.6 percent was converted into
LNG.
Indonesia currently has two LNG production centers, one in
Arun, Aceh, and the other in Badak, East Kalimantan. The Arun gas
liquefaction units have an installed annual production capacity
of nine million tons of LNG, while the units in Badak have an
annual capacity of 13.2 million tons.
Pertamina, in cooperation with Esso Exploration & Production
Natuna Inc., is developing another multi-billion gas liquefaction
plant in Natuna, Riau.
G.A.S. Nayoan of Pertamina, who is also a senior executive
vice president of Natuna Executive Board, said the first phase of
the Natuna project, which will have six giant production trains,
will be finished by the year 2005 with an initial production
capacity of five million tons of LNG per annum.
He noted that LNG outputs from the first two trains of Natuna
will be likely exported to Japan. "Currently we are still
negotiating with Japanese firms over this issue." (rid)