Semen Andalas gets ISO 9002 certificate

JAKARTA (JP): Aceh cement maker PT Semen Andalas Indonesia received International Standards Organization (ISO) 9002 certification yesterday from Switzerland's Societe Generale de Surveillance.

Semen Andalas's president, Martin Wilkes, said the certificate was awarded for his company's management.

Semen Andalas is 55 percent owned by France's Lafarge, 29 percent by Indonesian parties and the remainder by three international finance firms.

He said the company sold most of its cement in the North Sumatra, Aceh and Riau provinces.

"This year, we will export about 10,000 tons to Singapore and Malaysia," he said.

Wilkes said the company was upgrading its plant to increase annual production from to 1.2 million tons 1.6 million tons next year.

The company had just invested US$200 million to build another production unit with a capacity of 1.4 million tons a year near Medan in North Sumatra. The unit will be completed in 2000.

Semen Andalas which had sales revenue of Rp 180 billion (US$74.5 million) last year, posted a pre-tax profit of Rp 50 billion.

The company's profit and revenue are expected to be stagnant this year because of stable cement prices. (10)