Antam?s partner quits building W. Kalimantan smelter
Friday, August 5 2011 - 03:27 AM WIB
The company?s corporate secretary Bimo Budi Satrio said that Antam could not develop alone the project as the company did not have an expertise to process bauxite to alumina.
The construction project will be delayed from initial schedule due to the problem, Bimo said.
In July, last year Antam signed the first amended and restated joint venture agreement (JVA) with Hangzhou Jinjiang Group (HJG) of China to build a smelter grade alumina (SGA) plant in Mempawah.
The SGA Mempawah plant will process 4 million wet metric tons (wmt) of bauxite ores to produce 1 million metric tons of alumina annually.
Estimated project cost is US$1 billion. The joint venture ownership is envisioned as 49 percent for Antam and 51 percent for HJG with an option for Antam to become majority shareholder after three years of commercial operation.
Antam expects construction to start in 2011 with commercial operation in 2014.
Following the signing of the JVA, Antam and HJG will work toward due diligence of the project as well as selection of the EPC contractor and financing arrangements.
Smelter Grade Alumina is the raw material for aluminium, and is envisioned to supply for domestic need. (*)