Central Omega seeks bank loans for smelter project

By Thomas R. Sembiring

IDX-listed mining company PT Central Omega Resources Tbk is seeking bank loans to help finance construction of a nickel pig iron smelter in North Morowali, Central Sulawesi.

Marvin Setiawan, General Manager for Finance and Accounting at the company, said on Tuesday that the firm was in talks with a number of banks for the loans. ?We try to finalize the agreement in the third quarter of this year,? he said.

He explained that the company through its subsidiary PT COR Industri Indonesia, a joint venture with China?s Macrolink Group, is developing the smelter in two phases. Central Omega owns 60 percent stake in COR Industri.

Ground breaking for the first phase of 100,000 tons per annum was made early June, in the hope that commercial production would start in the fourth quarter of next year. Total investment for the first phase project is estimated at Rp 2 trillion, about half of which to be financed via bank loans, Marvin said.

Construction of the second phase is expected to start in 2017.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak