Marubeni in RI pulp project

Marubeni in RI pulp project

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Marubeni Corp. and Nippon Paper Industries Co. Ltd. plan to join a US$1 billion pulp project in Indonesia with local lumber company Barito Pacific, a Marubeni spokesman said yesterday.

The spokesman for the trading house said the three partners would set up a joint venture as early as February, marking the first involvement of the Japanese private sector in the Indonesian pulp industry.

The new company will be capitalized at $200 million with Barito Pacific and its affiliates holding 80 percent and Marubeni and Nippon Paper, Japan's top paper company, holding a combined 20 percent, he said.

With a further investment of $800 million, the venture aims to produce 450,000 tons of pulp a year from 1997, of which about 100,000 tons will be shipped to Japan.

Construction of a new plant will start in March on a 300,000 hectare (741,000 acre) acacia plantation in Palembang on the island of Sumatra. "We are aware of the need to preserve tropical forests," the spokesman said.

Nippon Paper, formed through the merger of Jujo Paper and Sanyo-Kokusaku Pulp in 1993, will provide the technology and know-how for the plant while Finnish and other European companies will supply most of its equipment.