Government privatizes Aneka Gas Industri

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)