Sampoerna expands plant

Sampoerna expands plant

JAKARTA (JP): PT HM Sampoerna, a Surabaya-based cigarette
producer listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, is expanding its
factory in Pandaan, East Java with a total investment of US$100
million.

Herry Purnomo, marketing manager of the company's Jakarta
branch, announced yesterday that the expansion is to meet
increasing demand.

"Local market demand for clove cigarettes is increasing, and
Sampoerna itself has enjoyed a 300 percent increase in sales
during the last two quarters," Herry said during the launching of
its latest product, filter cigarettes.

He said the company exports less than one percent of its
production of over 450,000 cigarettes per week.

According to the company's president, Putera Sampoerna, the
first phase of the expansion was completed in 1988 with a total
investment of US$50 million, while the construction of the second
phase, now 40-percent completed, is expected to come on stream at
the end of 1995.

The company's cigarette factories, located in a number of
industrial areas in Surabaya and nearby Pandaan, currently
process 50 tons of tobacco per day and 750,000 tons of clove per
month, or almost 70 percent of its full capacity. (rid)