Pupuk Kujang to build new fertilizer factory
Pupuk Kujang to build new fertilizer factory
JAKARTA (JP): State fertilizer producer PT Pupuk Kujang will
build a new plant in its industrial compound in Cikampek, West
Java to replace its old production unit.
Pupuk Kujang's president Edi Madnawidjaja said here on
Thursday that the company would spend about US$310 million for
the construction of the new production unit
"We hope the construction of the new plant can start in June
and begin commercial production in the middle of 2004," he told
reporters following the signing of an agreement with Japan's Toyo
Engineering Corp, the main contractor of the plant.
He said that the new plant, which would be named Kujang IB
plant would replace the Kujang IA plant, which has been operating
for about 25 years.
PT Kujang which started its commercial production in 1975
produces 330,000 tons of ammonia and 570,000 tons of urea per
year.
Edi said the Japanese government would provide about US$250
million in export credits to finance the new plant, while the
remaining $60 million will come from internal sources.
The construction of the Kujang IB plant is part of the
government program to replenish the operation of state-owned old
fertilizer plants.
Most of the country's fertilizer plants were established in
the 1970s including those operated by PT Pupuk Kalimantan Timur
and PT Petrokimia Gresik.
According to Edi, the new plant would use environmentally
friendly technology, which could save up to 30 percent in energy
compared to the existing plants.
PT Kujang is part of the South Sumatra-based PT Pupuk
Sriwijaya (Pusri), which manages and operates four other
fertilizer producers including PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda, PT Asean
Fertilizer, both in Aceh, PT Petrokimia Gresik in East Java and
Pupuk Kaltim in Kalimantan.
Their total production reaches about 6 million tons of urea
per year.
All of the fertilizer plants except PT Asean Fertilizer sell
larger part of their products to meet the local demand, which
reaches about 4 million tons a year. (03)