Petrokimia to build NPK plant

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned fertilizer producer PT Petrokimia Gresik and state plantation companies PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) II, III, IV and V are to jointly set up a nitrogen, phosphate and kalium (NPK) fertilizer plant.

Company spokesman Lutfi Samsyudin said in Gresik, East Java, on Thursday that an agreement on the establishment of the fertilizer plant was signed in Jakarta last week.

Bank Negara Indonesia, which will finance the project, also signed the agreement, Lutfi said, as reported by Bisnis Indonesia.

He declined to reveal the total investment, but said that the details, including the plant's location and investment would be formally agreed on Nov. 20.

Lutfi said that the plant, which will have a production capacity of 300,000 metric tons of NPK fertilizer a year, would initially supply the needs of the four state plantation companies which reached 60,000 tons each annually.

He added that Indonesia currently imported NPK fertilizers worth US$25 million a year to meet the demand from local plantation firms. (gis)