Chandra Asri backs down from Bintuni project

By Febry Silaban

IDX-listed petrochemical firm PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP) said it has decided to back down from the planned petrochemical project in Bintuni, West Papua, due to uncertainty over gas supply.

?The project has been long planned. We decided to back down because there is no certainty over availability of the required gas raw material. We?re now focusing on things that we can concretely implement,? said CAP Director of HR & Corporate Administration, Suryandi to Petromindo.com on Thursday.

He, however, said that if there is certainty over supply of gas and its price, the company will reconsider participating in the project.

As has been previously reported, Germany?s Ferrostaal Industrial Projects GmbH was planning to team up with CAP to develop an estimated US$1.8 billion methanol plant in Bintuni to produce raw material for ethylene and propylene production.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak