Bosowa to build $300m smelter

Bosowa Corporation, a local diversified business group, says it will start the construction of a planned nickel smelter by early 2015 with an investment amounting to around US$300 million, The Jakarta Post reported Thursday.

CEO Erwin Aksa said Wednesday that the smelter, which would have the capacity to process nickel ores into as much as 10,000 tons of ferronickel annually, would be located on a 100-hectare plot in Jeneponto, South Sulawesi.

?We?ve completed the feasibility study and by early next year all the preparation, particularly land clearance, will be completed;? he said.

The construction, to be carried out by a subsidiary of Bosowa PT Bosowa Metal Industri, was supposed to kick off this year. However, issues, including a change in design and the failing price of commodities on the international market, resulted in the company postponing its schedule.

Bosowa will secure the ore supplies from its own mining sites as well as other mines in Southeast Sulawesi, such as Kolaka, Konawe and Pomalaa. The company will sell the ferronickel on the domestic and overseas markets, according to Erwin.

In anticipation of the sizeable energy demand to fuel the smelter, Bosowa through its subsidiary PT Bosowa Energy plans to build a 250-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Jeneponto, which may cost around Rp 3.5 trillion ($294.46 million). ?We aim to start the project early next year after a deal with PT PLN,? Erwin said, referring to the state electricity company. (*)