Antam to make first shipment from Tayan CGA plant to Japan in April 2014
Wednesday, October 30 2013 - 02:09 AM WIB
IDX-listed mining giant PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) plans to ship the first aluminum tri hydrate (ATH) output from its new Chemical Grade Alumina plant in Tayan, West Kalimantan, to Japan in April of next year.
Antam Corporate Secretary Tri Hartono told Petromindo.com Wednesday that the first shipment volume of about 200,000 tons will be delivered to Japan?s Showa Denko K.K. (SDK).
?The first production of the ATH will take place around March 2014, hopefully the first shipment will be made around April,? Tri said.
Antam and SDK formed PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina (ICA) which develops the Tayan Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA) plant. Antam owns 80 percent shares in ICA.
On Monday, Antam held a ceremony to commence the commissioning phase of the country?s first CGA plant, whose construction process began in April 11, 2011, and is intended to process Antam?s bauxite reserves to produce up to 300,000 tons of CGA per annum.
The company said in a statement that the CGA products will be exported as well as sold to the Indonesian domestic market. While Smelter Grade Alumina (SGA) is widely used for the smelting of aluminum metal, chemical grade alumina produced by PT ICA will be widely applied in the production of functional materials and electronic materials such as refractories, abrasives, building materials, IC packaging, and materials for LCD glass.
In ensuring a safe and stable operation, since 2012 PT ICA has sent more than 50 personnel for training to Showa Denko K.K.'s CGA plant in Yokohama, Japan. Trainings were also conducted in Germany and China for on the job training and knowledge transfer.
The Tayan CGA plant is expected to employ 500 people, excluding opportunities created from multiplier effects both directly and indirectly to the surrounding communities inline with the operations of the Tayan CGA plant.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak