Antam plans to issue $350m bonds to finance smelting project
Wednesday, August 10 2011 - 02:44 AM WIB
Antam?s Finance Director Djaya Tambunan said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the bonds would be gradually offered to investors according to the construction stages of the smelting plant. ?The bonds will be issued in stages according to construction phases of the smelter,? he said.
Djaya also said that the first round of the bond offering would be kicked off in October this year to finance the preparation works, but he refused to go into further details about the bond offering.
The construction of the ferronickel smelting plant in East Halmahera will absorb investments totaling about US$1.6 billion including $600 million for the construction of a power plant. Antam has said that state electricity company PLN has agreed to build the power plant to meet the electricity needs of the smelter.
In addition to bond offering, Antam will also seek financing from a consortium of local and foreign financial institutions including Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Mandiri, Deutsche Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Ltd, Standard Chartered Bank, Mandiri Sekuritas and Goldman Sachs.
The construction of the ferronickel smelting plant is part of Antam?s expansion plan to explore and develop a nickel mine in East Halmahera. The ferronickel smelting plant will have a processing capacity of 270,000 tons a year.
Antam hopes it will be able to begin construction by the end of this year so that the commercial operation could commence in 2014. (*)