Nine smelters planned for 2013

By Cepi Setiadi

There will be at least nine smelters to be built in Indonesia in 2013, Director General of Mineral and Coal at the Ministry of Energi and Mineral Resources, Thamrin Sihite said recently.

"The projects mostly entering the ground breaking phase in 2013," he said to reporter at his office, adding that the figure adds to the rumored seven smelters to be built next year.

Thamrin explained that these projects spread out all over Indonesia, including Kalimantan and Sulawesi.

"There are Sebuku Iron and Meratus in West Kalimantan for iron ore and Bintang Delapan in Sulawesi for nickel smelter," he said, adding that there is also Antam?s bauxite smelter project which is already running in West Kalimantan.

Besides Antam?s smelter project in West Kalimantan, Thamrin said that there will be other investors from China and Dubai who are going to develop an alumina smelter.

Editing by Er Audy Zandri