Antam seeks to divest interest in alumina plant
Tuesday, August 8 2017 - 03:13 AM WIB
Petromindo|Lucky
IDX-listed mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) plans to sell part of its shares in PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA), which operates the Tayan chemical grade alumina (CGA) plant in West Kalimantan, after its partner Japan?s Show Denko KK decided to leave the joint venture.
?Antam wants to reduce ownership in ICA,? said Antam Finance Director Dimas Wikan on Monday, but did not say the size of stake it plans to divest.
He said that the company is seeking for a new partner to run the chemical grade alumina plant. Antam owns 80 percent of ICA, with the remaining 20 percent held by Showa Denko KK (SDK).
Antam announced on July 25 that SDK has decided to cease its partnership in ICA after the two companies failed to reach agreement on how to turn around the Tayan CGA plant, which has yet to deliver profitability and that production has been below desired level since it started operation in 2015 amid ?challenges.?
Antam said at the time that SDK has conveyed its interest in offering its shares in ICA to Antam and/or a third party.
The Tayan CGA plant has installed production capacity of 300,000 tons.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak