PT Timah says it has three options to boost expansion program
Monday, March 19 2001 - 04:30 AM WIB
State owned tin company PT Timah said it would continue with its expansion plan into other mining activities despite its recent failure to win the bid for four coal mining companies formerly owned by the Salim Group, Bisnis Indonesia reported on Monday.
The company's president Erry Riyana said on Saturday that the company still had three options to carry out the expansion plan.
The first option is to develop PT Timah's own coal mining concessions in East Kalimantan, he said but he added that this option would take time to realize due to the uncertainty in the autonomy law
The second option, according to him, is to form a joint venture or partnership with already operating coal-mining company, while the last option is to take over the whole ownership of existing coal producers.
PT Timah recently failed in its bid to acquire the stake of the four mining companies from the Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) after its main rival Central Link Wisesa International, a joint venture between local company and a Thai coal producer, agreed to pay the stake in the four companies for US$45.5 million.
The four companies, two located in East Kalimantan and the other two in Sumatera, are part of over 100 of companies surrendered to IBRA from the Salim Group as the payment to the group's massive debts to the government. (*)