Government privatizes Aneka Gas Industri
JAKARTA (JP): The government has privatized state-owned industrial gas firm PT Aneka Gas Industri through direct placement in an effort to improve its competitiveness.
The company's president, Soemantojo, announced at a public presentation here yesterday that Messer Griesheim GmbH of Germany and PT Tira Austenite had bought the company's new shares, making the gas firm 50 percent government-owned, with 30 percent held by Messer Griesheim and 20 percent by Tira Austenite.
"The gas company's extraordinary general shareholders meeting on April 26 approved the sales of the new shares to Messer Griesheim and Tira Austenite," Soemantojo said.
Messer Griesheim, a member of the Hoeschst Group, is Germany's largest industrial gas company.
Tira Austenite, a member of the Tigaraksa Group, is a publicly-listed company engaged in the manufacture and marketing of a wide range of technical goods.
Efficieny
With the inclusion of the two private firms, Aneka Gas raised a total of Rp 30.1 billion (US$13.4 million) in fresh funds, which will be used to replace old factories and improve the efficiency of the existing plants.
Currently, the company has a production capacity of 7,252 cubic meters per hour of industrial, specialty, medical and life support gasses. Of the gas products, 1,395 cubic meters per hour are produced in Medan, North Sumatra; 1,732 cubic meters in Jakarta; 1,432 cubic meters in Semarang, Central Java; 2,408 cubic meters in Surabaya, East Java; 145 cubic meters in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi; 50 cubic meters in Bitung, North Sulawesi; and 70 cubic meters in Palu, Central Sulawesi.
Industrial gases produced by the company include oxygen, nitrogen, argon, acetylene, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, compressed gases, nitrous oxide, helium and refrigerant gases. Specialty gases include purified gases, special mixtures and standard calibration gases. Medical and life support gases include analgesic gases or respiration gases, diving gases, sterigas and fumigas.
The company plans to expand the capacity of its Surabaya plant to 3,620 cubic meters per hour by the end of this year.
"The only way to enhance our earnings is through efficiency improvement and capacity expansion because from time to time, industrial gas prices tend to decrease," Soemantojo said.
To illustrate, he noted that gas prices averaged at Rp 900 per cubic meter in 1990, but now stand at an average of Rp 300 per cubic meter.
Established in 1916, Aneka Gas is the first company specializing in industrial gasses in Indonesia. At present, it is still one of the country's leading industrial gas companies, with seven branches, two trading and services units, 14 filling stations and hundreds of sales outlets all over the country. (rid)