PT Indal ties up with Japan

PT Indal ties up with Japan

SURABAYA (JP): Publicly listed PT Indal Aluminum Industry,
through its subsidiary PT Indal Investindo, has set up two joint
ventures with Japanese companies to manufacture car spare parts
in Gresik, East Java, and Bekasi, West Java.

PT Indal Investindo signed a joint venture agreement here
yesterday with Furukawa Electric Co. Ltd., Toyota Tsusho Corp.,
and Itoh Seikoh Co. Ltd.

"We expect to contribute to increasing the local content of
locally assembled cars," Indal's president Alim Markus said
yesterday.

Alim said the new joint venture company, called PT Furukawa
Indal, would invest US$7 million in a plant in Gresik to produce
aluminum condensers and evaporators for automobile air
conditioners.

The plant project within the Maspion industrial area in Gresik
is scheduled to start commercial production in the second half of
next year.

It will be able to produce 3,000 tons of condensers and
evaporators a year, he said.

The company plans to export 60 percent of its products to
other Southeast Asian countries and sell the remaining 40 percent
domestically, he said.

PT Furukawa Indal is 40 percent owned by PT Indal Investindo,
55 percent by the Furukawa Electric and 5 percent by Toyota
Tsusho.

PT Indal also agreed yesterday to tie up with Itoh Seikoh and
Toyota Tsusho in a joint venture, named PT Alim and Itoh
Corporation.

The joint venture, with an investment of US$2 million, will be
45 percent owned by PT Indal Investindo, 50 percent by Itoh
Seikoh, and 5 percent by Toyota Tsusho.

The company plans to build a plant to produce about 1.5
million pieces of automotive spare parts a year, Alim said.

The plant will be built in Bekasi, West Java, and will start
commercial production in the second semester of next year, he
said.

About 30 percent of the products will be exported and 70
percent will be sold locally, he added. (das)