RI, Japan firms join hands to produce coffee
RI, Japan firms join hands to produce coffee
JAKARTA (JP): The Palembang-based PT Prasidha Aneka Niaga, a company listed on the Jakarta and Surabaya Stock Exchanges, signed a joint venture agreement yesterday with two Japanese corporations and another domestic firm to produce instant and ground coffee in Surabaya, East Java.
Under the agreement, the joint venture, named PT Aneka Coffee Industry, will be 65 percent owned by Prasidha, 20 percent by Itochu Corporation of Japan, 10 percent by PT Citrabuana Tunggalperkasa and the remaining five percent by UCC Ueshima Coffee Co. Ltd. of Japan, Prasidha's president, Mansjur Tandiono, said at the ceremony for the signing of the agreement.
The venture, with an authorized capital of Rp 50 billion (US$22.60 million) and a paid-up capital of Rp 37 billion, is expected to produce 3,600 tons of instant coffee and 2,400 tons of ground coffee per annum, he said.
"For the purpose, we will construct an integrated coffee plant in Surabaya at a cost of Rp 30 billion in June," he said.
The plant is expected to be on stream early next year, he added.
He said that around 80 percent of the plant's production will be exported to Japan, the United States and Europe, while the remaining 20 percent will be sold on the domestic market.
Mansjur said that Citrabuana will supply Arabica and Robusta coffee beans for the plant from its 6,000 hectares of plantations in East Java.
"We will also buy coffee beans from other local producers in South Sumatra, Lampung and North Sumatra," he said.
In processing coffee, that the venture will use technology from Ueshima, a company which is the fifth biggest producer of instant and ground coffee in the world, he said.
"We will also tap Ueshima's distribution networks in Japan and other countries for marketing our coffee," he said.
Ueshima, established in Kobe in 1933, now deals with the processing of coffee, black tea and cocoa with total sales of over 200 billion yen a year.
Yesterday's agreement was signed by Mansjur, Masayoshi Fujiwara of Itochu, Tatsushi Ueshima of Ueshima and Hutama Sugandhi of Citrabuana.(fhp)