Semen Padang plans to build new plant

Semen Padang plans to build new plant

JAKARTA (JP): PT Semen Padang, a cement producer based in West Sumatra, will build another cement plant early this year, Indarung V, with an annual production capacity of 2.3 million tons, the company's President Abubakar said.

"The new plant, bringing the company's plants to five, will cost Rp 697 billion (US$305.03 million)," he told the press at a year-end meeting.

He added that Rp 254 billion of the total investment will be derived from foreign aid, Rp 333 billion from a loan from the state-owned development bank (Bappindo) and Rp 110 billion from the company's own internal resources.

"PT Semen Padang's total production capacity will be 5.5 million tons of cement per year by the middle of 1998 when the plant is scheduled to begin operation," Abubakar was quoted by Antara as saying.

He pointed out that PT Semen Padang exceeded its production target last year by 19,298 tons for a total of 3.28 million tons.

Last year's profits were estimated to reach Rp 50 billion.

He noted that sales only reached 3.21 million tons or 98 percent of total production.

As many as 4.23 percent of total sales, 135,864 tons, were exported to Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Maldives, Brunei Darussalam, and Bangladesh.

He added that last year the company achieved a certificate of ISO-9000, an international certificate for its quality management system,the ISO-9002 certificate an award from the American Petroleum Institute. (13)