Antam welcomes plan to set up mining holding company

IDX-listed state owned mining firm PT Antam (Persero) Tbk welcome the government?s plan of setting up a holding company for all state owned enterprises (SOEs) involved in mining business.

?The increasing trend in commodity prices is a momentum for the establishment of a (mining) holding company which will elevate operation scale, position, financial liquidity and cost efficiency,? President Director Tedy Badrujaman said in statement on Tuesday.

The establishment of such mining holding company is expected to increase coal and mineral reserves, either through exploration or acquisition, support the mining downstream development program, and create a national mining company which can compete globally and can grow to be a world-class mining company, he said.

At present, the government has four mining SOEs, namely Antam, which is engaged in nickel, gold and bauxite mining business, IDX-listed PT Timah (Persero) Tbk, which is focused on tin mining, and IDX-listed PT Bukit Asam (Persero) Tbk, which is focused on coal mining, and PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Persero) (Inalum), which is focused on producing aluminum. Besides, the government has a 9.36 stake in copper and gold producer PT Freeport Indonesia. Under the government, Inalum will be chosen as the holding company for other mining firms. The reason it is chosen is because it is 100 percent controlled by the government, while the others are partly owned by investing public on the stock market.

Editing by Johannes Simbolon