Intan Wijaya to set up new chemical plant

JAKARTA (JP): PT. Intan Wijaya Chemical Industry, a publicly- listed glue and chemical manufacturer located in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, will strengthen its industrial activities by establishing a new chemical plant.

The company's director of operation, Tazran Tanmizi, told reporters after annual and extraordinary meetings of its shareholders here yesterday that the company will establish a hexamine plant in Banjarmasin, with a capacity of 8,000 tons per annum.

The company plans to sell 3,000 tons of the project's production on the domestic market and export the remainder.

"The hexamine project is one of our diversification programs, anticipating tighter competition in glue and basic chemical markets," Tazran said.

Hexamine is a synthetic organic chemical compound used for the production of glue, explosives, rubber, metals, pharmaceuticals, preservatives and plastics.

Tazran said installation of machinery and equipment is scheduled to start next month and the project is expected to begin production in the first quarter of next year.

He said the hexamine plant will maximize the utilization of the output from the company's formaldehyde production line," Tazran said.

The company's director of finance, Recsonlye Sitorus, said the hexamine plant will be built at a cost of Rp 12 billion (US$5.54 million), part of which will be financed with a loan from Chase Manhattan Bank of the United States.

He said the company last year gained an after-tax profit of Rp 5.82 billion, as compared to Rp 5.37 billion in 1992, while its total assets rose to Rp 85.51 billion from Rp 65.66 billion.

Intan Wijaya last year sold 59,346 tons of glue and other chemical products to obtain revenues of Rp 29.44 billion.

Sitorus said the hexamine project is expected to increase the company's sales revenues by $6 million per year.

He said the shareholder meeting agreed on the distribution of a cash dividend of Rp 50 (two U.S. cents) for each share of the holders of the company's 44 million shares next month.

The meeting also agreed to re-elect the board of commissioners and directors and to relocate the company's headquarters from Banjarmasin to Jakarta. (02)