Komatsu Indonesia increases production capacity by 30%

Komatsu Indonesia increases production capacity by 30%

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed heavy equipment producer PT
Komatsu Indonesia opened yesterday a new heavy equipment assembly
plant in Cilincing, North Jakarta.

The company's vice president Budiardjo Sosrosukarto said the
new plant would increase production capacity 33.3 percent to
2,400 items this year from 1,800 items in 1996.

"The company's total investment for the plant was around Rp
64.8 billion (US$27 million)," he said after the inauguration
ceremony.

He said the plant was built on 6.2 hectares with the proceeds
of its initial public offering in October 1995.

The company's products include bulldozers, hydraulic
excavators, motor graders, wheel loaders and heavy equipment
components.

Komatsu's production capacity has grown steadily over the past
three years. Last year, the company manufactured 1,855 items of
heavy equipment, 1,409 items in 1995 and 1,079 items in 1994.

He said the export value of the heavy equipment was Rp 46.4
billion in 1996 while the export value of components was about Rp
22.5 billion in the same period.

PT Komatsu Indonesia is 34.79 percent owned by Komatsu Ltd
Japan, 29.62 percent by PT United Tractors, 6.88 percent by
Sumitomo Corporation, 4.59 percent by Marubeni Corporation and
24.12 percent by the public.

President of Japan's Komatsu Ltd, Satoru Anzaki, said demand
for heavy equipment was high in Indonesia due to the rapid growth
in infrastructure development here especially the construction of
new roads.

He said that in the early 1980s, demand for heavy equipment
was only 500 items a year, it is now 5,000 a year.

"We expect to see even greater growth by the year 2000," he
said.

The company's president commissioner Benny Subianto said that
the company's products have had a 45 percent local content since
1996.

The company booked total net sales of Rp 127.9 billion in the
first quarter this year, up 21.3 percent from Rp 105.4 billion in
the same period last year.

Komatsu Indonesia posted net profit of Rp 10.4 billion in the
January to March period this year, up from 14.7 percent from Rp
8.2 billion in the same period last year. (aly/leo)