Antam denies Mitsui guarantees loan for FeNi III project
Saturday, November 4 2000 - 04:00 AM WIB
Publicly-listed state mining company PT Aneka Tambang (Antam) had denied reports that Japanese firm Mitsui Co guaranteed loan for its ferronickel expansion project, which is popularly called FeNi III, in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi.
Local paper Business Indonesia earlier quoted foreign news agency Bridgenews as saying that Mitsui had secured a loan guarantee from an unidentified Japanese bank for the expansion project after it failed to secure loan from the Japan Bank of International Cooperate (JBIC).
"The news was written out of Antam's knowledge and it was untrue," Antam said in a statement to stock exchange watchdog Bapepam
The company further said its program of the construction of the FeNi III factory is still in the stage of analysis process and it had not decided which of the two companies which joined the bid - Mitsui and German firm Tessag AG - will obtain the contract.
The company also said it was still conducting some review to get the most beneficial source of financing for the project.
The FeNi III project will double Antam's ferronickel output to 24,000 tons per year. (Bodega)