Nickel pig iron smelter to be built in C. Sulawesi

By Bambang Atmaja

Industry Minister MS Hidayat said that a nickel iron pig smelter will be built in Central Sulawesi with construction expected to start early next year.

He said that the more than US$1 billion smelter will have a capacity of 1 million tons per year, to be built by PT Sulawesi Mining Investment.

"Construction of the smelter will be started at the beginning of next year with the target (capacity) of one million tons per year," Hidayat told Petromindo.com as saying after a cabinet meeting at the State Palace on Tuesday evening.

The minister said that the production was expected to start two-and a-half years later. He said that the nickel pig iron smelter project would be the first to be built outside China.

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak