Antam secures US$650M syndicated loan for FeNi project

By Roffie Kurniawan

State nickel and gold miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) has secured syndicated loan worth US$650 million from a consortium of banks lead by PT Bank Mandiri Tbk.

The loan which is provided under project finance scheme will be used to build ferronickel (FeNi) IV with production capacity of 27,000 tons of nickel per year in East Halmahera, North Maluku.

In a media statement, Bank Mandiri says the mandate letter for the project finance loan is signed by Deputy President Director of Bank Mandiri Riswinandi, who also acts as coordinator of the consortium banks, Antam President Director Alwinsyah Lubis and representatives from bank participants, namely Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Banking Corporation on Tuesday.

Riswinandi said the support of the banks will hopefully help Antam in raising its production capacity in line with the growth of demand.

Antam has started the construction of its major ferronickel project worth US$1.6 billion in late November 2012. Alwinsyah Lubis, said the FeNi Haltim project is the second major project of the company launched last year, after Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA) Tayan which commenced in April.

He said the FeNi Halmahera Timur project will have a capacity to produce 27,000 tonnes of nickel-in-matte, with commissioning operation scheduled for end of 2014. The project is developed by Antam?s wholly owned subsidiary PT Feni Haltim (FHT).

Of the $1.6 billion investment to develop the project, around $600 million will be set aside to develop a power plant with capacity of 275 megawatt (MW).

Editing by David Mustakim