Maspion considers building alumina smelter
Thursday, July 11 2013 - 02:19 AM WIB
Maspion Group, one of Indonesia?s major electronic and home appliance producers, is exploring the possibility of building its own alumina smelter to meet the company?s growing needs of aluminum, Investor Daily reported on Thursday.
?Maspion is interested in building alumina smelter,? Industry Minister MS Hidayat said in Jakarta on Wednesday following a meeting with Maspion?s executives. The minister said that the company was considering building a smelting plant to process bauxite into alumina.
Hidayat said that Maspion had not yet decided the processing capacity of its planned alumina smelter. But, the company needs at least 200,000 tons of aluminum a year, he added.
Maspion plans to build a smelter in Gresik in an area located near a seaport. It also plans to build a coal-fired power plant to support the smelter operation. The minister said that the company would use low-calorie coal to fire the power plant. (*)