Inalum aims to nearly quadruple production capacity

By Brigida Ernestina Elu Wea

State-owned aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) aims to nearly quadruple annual production capacity from the current 260,000 tons to 1 million tons by 2025.

Winardi, President Director of Inalum, Southeast Asia?s largest aluminum producer, said on Thursday that the planned increase in the production capacity will be realize once its smelter grade alumina (SGA) refinery project has been completed.

The SGA refinery will produce alumina, a key raw material for aluminum production. Inalum has been importing the raw material, Winardi said, adding that if production capacity will be bolstered to 1 million tons per annum, the company will need about 2 million tons of alumina.

Winardi said that the planned expansion of production capacity will be carried out in stages, with the first stage to double capacity to 500,000 tons per year in 2020, and then gradually further expand it up to 1 million tons per year.

Inalum on Thursday signed an agreement with IDX-listed mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk (Antam) to form a joint venture to realize the SGA refinery project. The joint venture company, called PT Inalum Antam Alumina (IAA) will be 60 percent owned by Inalum and 40 percent by Antam.

IAA wants to have a 51 percent stake in the SGA refinery project, with the remainder to be held by Aluminum Corporation of China Ltd (Chinalco). The planned SGA refinery project is targeted to be completed in 2018.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak