Inalum set to invest US$1.9 billion

State-owned aluminum producer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) is set to invest up to US$1.9 billion until 2009 to nearly double production capacity to 500,000 tons per year, reports said on Tuesday.

Bisnis Indonesia daily quoted Inalum President Commissioner Agus T. Wirakusumah as saying that the company hopes to complete a feasibility study for the construction of a new smelter line end of this year. The new facility is designed to bolster production capacity of aluminum ingot to 500,000 tons per annum from about 256,000 tons currently.

Aside from building a new production facility, Inalum has also taken a number of optimization measures including installing new machinery to help increase production, he said. As a result, production capacity has now risen to 256,602 tons per year from 225,000 tons per year when the government took over the firm from the previous operator in November of last year, Agus explained.

Agus said that production capacity next year is expected to further increase to 300,000 tons per year, and to 400,000 tons in 2018, and 500,000 tons in 2019 when the new smelter has been completed. (*)