Harita unit plans to begin ferronickel export next year

By Thomas Sembiring

PT Megah Surya Pertiwi (MSP), which is part of the Harita Group, plans to start export of ferronickel next year following trial production of its smelter on Obi Island, South Halmahera, North Maluku Province, later this year.

Liem Hok Seng, a director at Harita, told Petromindo.com recently that while the new ferronickel smelter has installed production capacity of up to 200,000 tons per year, production next year will likely only be around 60-70 percent of the capacity.

MSP is teaming up with China?s Xinxing Ducticle Iron Pipes Co and a number of Singapore firms in the estimated US$320 million ferronickel smelter project, which is also equipped with a 120 MW power plant.

Harita through subsidiary IDX-listed Cita Mineral Investindo Tbk is a co-owner of PT Well Harvest Wining Alumina Refinery (WHM), which operates a 1 million-ton per annum capacity alumina smelter in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, which started operation in June of this year. Cita via subsidiary PT Harita Prima owns 30 percent stake in WHW, while the remainder is controlled by China?s Hongqiao Group.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak