Govt to probe PT PIM's financial condition

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has asked the ministry of finance to probe the financial condition of Aceh-based state owned fertilizer plant PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda, Koran Tempo reported on Saturday.

The Vice President ordered the investigation after the fertilizer producer's management revealed that the company was only able to pay 30 percent of the total expense made by the government to import a cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) recently.

According to Kalla, it is strange if PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda which operates two units of fertilizer plants has no money to pay the LNG import. "With the fertilizer price of about US$270 per ton, the company should have been able to pay the gas import," he said.

The government, through Pertamina, recently imported a cargo of LNG to fulfill the export commitment of Aceh-based LNG producer PT Arun, which had failed to meet its export contract for June this year because the decline in the gas supply from ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil has been requested to divert part of its gas supply to PT PIM to enable the fertilizer company to maintain its production activities. This has consequently reduced the gas supply to PT Arun. (*)