Harita to complete first of planned four alumina smelters next year

By Bambang Atmaja

Mining company PT Harita Prima Abadi Mineral expects that one of its planned four alumina smelters will be completed in October of next year, and is ready to supply the entire output to North Sumatra-based aluminum producer PT Inalum.

Harita Prima Director Erry Sofyan told Petromindo.com that Minister of Industry MS Hidayat has asked the company if it would be able to supply alumina to PT Inalum as the latter firm will expand production capacity. Harita is ready to supply the required alumina ?as long as the price is right,? Erry said.

Harita is planning to develop four alumina smelters in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, with a combined capacity of 4 million tons per year. Groundbreaking for the first 1 million-ton per annum smelter was held in July of last year.

The company divides the construction of the four smelters into two phases, with investment of each phase estimated at US$1.5 billion. Harita is teaming up with a Chinese investor, Hong Siaw, in the project, under which the foreign firm accounts for about 70 percent of the required investment, while Harita takes up the remainder.

The construction of the second smelter in the first phase was expected to be completed in 2017.

For the second phase, the construction of the first smelter was projected to be completed in 2019 and in 2021 for the second facility.

?All the raw material will be supplied from our own mines that produced 12 million ton per year bauxite before the mineral export ban came into effect,? said Sofyan, adding that the supply of raw material was sufficient for planned-production of 4 million tons per year smelter-grade alumina.

In addition to supply 1 million ton /year outputs to PT Inalum, the rest of products from the four smelting facility would be shipped overseas, he said.

The director added that the firm also planned to build a power plant by its self and to spend US$1 billion for building a sea port.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak