Bank Mandiri pledges $150 million to Antam with 9-percent interest

State-owned Bank Mandiri will charge a 9-percent annual interest for a US$150 million loan to be lent to mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam), Bisnis Indonesia daily reported Wednesday.

Antam will use the $150 million to build its third ferronickel plant, FeNi III, in Central Sulawesi.

Bank Mandiri?s senior executive vice president M. Sholeh Tasripan was quoted as saying that the 9-percent interest is relatively low.

?Antam is a sound company so that we dare to provide loan for it, with 9-percent interest,? Sholeh said.

Meanwhile, Antam president director Dedi Aditya Sumanagara said that repayment period for the loan would be 10 years.

Antam said Tuesday that it would need around $230 million to build FeNi III which will be located in Pomalaa, Central Sulawesi.

The company had planned to raise euro-denominated loan amounting to between $240 million and $255 million from a German bank, IKB Hermes. Antam officials said recently however that it might cancel its plan to raise loans from IKB Hermes because of the appreciation of euro.

Antam said Tuesday that Bank Mandiri had given written commitment to provide it up to $150 million for the construction of the FeNi III project.

Antam is majority owned by the government, and is listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange and an Australian bourse. (*)