Chiyoda to build Freeport?s copper smelter
Monday, January 25 2016 - 01:37 AM WIB
Chiyoda Corp, one of Japan?s largest engineering companies, has been assigned by PT Freeport Indonesia to construct the latter?s planned US$2.3 billion copper smelter in Gresik, East Java.
Clementio Lamury, Executive President for Public Affairs at PT Freeport, said last week that Chiyoda and its Indonesian subsidiary PT Chiyoda International Indonesia will start the construction work in July of this year. He did not provide further details.
PT Freeport has been under pressure to quickly develop the smelter project to meet the government?s 2017 deadline, by which time the company would no longer be able to export copper concentrates.
The company has been under criticism for slow progress in developing the smelter project. Significant progress in the physical construction of the project is one of the requirements set by the government for the company to be able to get extension of its copper concentrates export permit, which expires on January 28 of this year.
Given the slow progress, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Sudirman Said has demanded PT Freeport to deposit additional funds worth $530 million in an escrow account as a form of the company?s seriousness in developing the smelter. The company has earlier deposited $115 million.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak