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)