Sumitomo delays RI project

Sumitomo delays RI project

TOKYO (Reuters): The launch of a 120 billion yen petrochemical plant in West Java, Indonesia, has been pushed back one year to 2001, a Japanese member of the international consortium in charge of the project said yesterday.

A Sumitomo Corp. spokesman said the petrochemical complex will be delayed because of difficulties in raising financing in Indonesia, whose economy is in crisis.

Indonesia's Salim Group has a 40 percent stake in the project, which is expected to eventually produce 900,000 tons of ethylene per year and 250,000 tons of polyethylene resin.

British Petroleum Co. Plc. has a 35 percent stake, while the four Japanese members of the consortium -- Sumitomo, Mitsui & Co. Ltd., Nichimen Corp. and Tomen Corp. -- together have a 15 percent stake in the project.

The remaining 10 percent is owned by other Indonesian firms.