Indocement scheduled to shut down one plant

Cement maker PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa is scheduled to close down Saturday one of its two cement processing plants due to uncertainty over coal supply following reports that the port authority in Cirebon, West Java, will suspend coal unloading and loading activities, a report said Saturday.

News portal FokusJabar.com quoted head of supply department at Indocement Cirebon, Agus Triwono as saying that due to uncertainty over coal supply, the company decided to only operate one cement processing plant, which will consequently cut down the company?s output by half from normal level of 3,500 tons per day.

Indocement requires about 800 tons of coal per day for one plant.

As has been reported by this portal, the Director General of Sea Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation had on March 10 issued a letter to state-owned port operator PT Pelindo II, which operates the Cirebon Port in West Java, to suspend coal unloading and loading activities at the port. Head of the Cirebon Port Rivolindo (one name) was quoted as saying that the coal unloading and loading activities must be suspended within 14 days after the issuance of the letter amid complaints of environmental pollution.

He said that the port can resume coal activities after Pelindo completes revision of the environmental impact assessment study (or Amdal) of the port.

The Cirebon port currently handles about 3 million tons of coal per year, a surge from 300,000 tons per annum in 2002, to serve the coal demand from industries in West Java. (*)