Government expects four smelters to be completed this year

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said four mineral smelters are slated to be completed this year, adding to the 19 smelters mostly nickel which have been completed during the past few years, Kontan reported on Tuesday.

The paper quoted Director General of Mineral and Coal Bambang Gatot Ariyono as saying that the first smelter completed this year (in March) is an iron sand smelter produces cold bricket iron developed by PT Sumber Baja Prima in Sukabumi, West Java Province, with capacity of 36,367 tons per year.

The second is a smelter that will produce bullion lead being developed by PT Kapuas Prima Coal in Central Kalimantan with capacity of 30,000 tons per year.

The third is nickel smelter to produce nickel pig iron being developed by COR Industri Indonesia in Morowali Utara, Central Sulawesi, with capacity of 92,400 tons per year, the progress of which has now reached 92 percent.

The fourth is nickel pig iron smelter being developed by PT Bintang Smelter Indonesia in South Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi Province, with capacity of 575,000 tons per year, of which the progress has reached 75 percent.

There are currently a total of 19 smelters, of which 13 are nickel smelters operating in the country following the introduction of export ban on nickel ores in early 2014.

But Bambang said on August 9 that out of the total 13 nickel smelters which have been developed in the country, three have stopped operating due to economic reasons, but not because of the government?s policy of allowing export of low grade nickel ores.

The three nickel smelters are owned by PT Indoferro, PT Bintang Timur Steel in Cilegon, Banten Province, and PT Cahaya Modern Metal Industry in Southeast Sulawesi Province. (*)