Semen Cibinong to start $337.5m expansion project
Semen Cibinong to start $337.5m expansion project
JAKARTA (JP): PT Semen Cibinong, a publicly listed cement producer, awarded contracts to two South Korean companies and a U.S. firm here Tuesday for the establishment of a new production unit with a capacity of 2.6 million tons at US$337.5 million.
Hanjung Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd. of South Korea was appointed as the construction contractor, while Fuller International Ltd. of the United States and Ssangyong Corporation of South Korea will supply equipment.
Semen Cibinong's president, Hashim S. Djojohadikusumo, told reporters after signing the contracts that the construction of the unit, which will be adjacent to Semen Cibinong's existing plant in Bogor, West Java, is slated to be completed in November 1997 and to commence commercial production by early 1998.
The Bogor plant, with a production capacity of three million tons a year, will be capable of producing 5.6 million tons of cement in 1998 after the operation of the new unit.
Semen Cibinong produces cement with three brand names -- Semen Kujang for the cement produced in Bogor, Semen Nusantara for that from Cilacap, Central Java, and Semen Dwima Agung for that to be produced in Tuban, East Java.
Hashim said that the company is now constructing a new production unit of its Cilacap plant, which will increase its annual production capacity from 1.5 million tons at present to 4.1 million tons in 1997.
"The expansion of the Bogor and the Cilacap plants will bring Semen Cibinong's total annual production capacity to 9.7 million tons in 1998," he said.
According to a statistical report, the country's cement production in 1994 reached 21.9 million tons, which is estimated to increase to 24.7 million tons in 1995 and to 27.2 million tons in 1996.
Hashim said Tuesday that demand and supply for cement remain tight, particularly in Java.
"Some 1.2 million tons of cement and clinker were imported by the group in 1994 to meet the country's shortfall of supply," Hashim said, adding that the shortfall will probably increase to 2.1 million tons in 1995 and to 2.9 million tons in 1996.(kod)