Inalum wants contract extended

Chairman of Asahan Authority Effendi Sirait said that PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) has submitted officially an application for the extension of contract of cooperation in the management of aluminium smelter in Asahan, North Sumatra, Koran Jakarta reported on Saturday.

?Yesterday, Inalum submitted the proposal (extension) and we would submit the proposal to the government,? said Effendi Sirait in Jakarta on Friday.

In the proposal, the company wherein 12 Japanese investors through Nippon Asahan Aluminium (NAA) control 58.88% of the total shares offers additional investment amounting to US$367 million to increase the production capacity of aluminium smelting plant from 250,000 tons to 317,000 tons per annum.

The Asahan Authority Development Board through Technical Team would assess the proposal from four aspects, namely business, technology mastery, politics and law.

Pursuant to the contract signed by Indonesia and Japan on July 7,1976, Asahan Project consisting of hydro power plant and aluminium smelter would become the property of the Indonesian government in October 2013. (*)