Porodisa to set up cement plant in E. Kalimantan

JAKARTA (JP): PT Porodisa Semen Indonesia will soon set up a cement factory with an annual production capacity of one million tons in East Kalimantan, a company executive said yesterday.

A director of Porodisa, Sutrisno, said in East Kalimantan's capital city of Samarinda that the company is still clearing 500 hectares of land in the Sangkulirang district in Kuta regency for the construction of the plant.

He said the company will invest Rp 5 billion (US$2.27 million) to build the plant, which is expected to employ about 2,000 workers, including 50 foreign experts.

"Around 600,000 tons of the factory's production will be supplied to the local market and the remaining 40 percent will be exported," he was quoted by Antara as saying. He added that the company will also set up a power plant with a generating capacity of 25 megawatts to support the cement factory.

The cement is expected to check the accute cement shortage in the province.

East Kalimantan, which presently relies on other provinces to fulfill its cement needs, suffers from a cement shortage of between 100,000 tons and 150,000 tons annually.

In the 1995-96 fiscal year ending in March, the cement demand in the province is expected to reach 461,368 tons. It will increase to about 800,000 tons in 1998-99. (hen)