RI, NAA agree on preliminary price for Inalum

The Indonesian government and the Nippon Asahan Aluminium (NAA) have reached an agreement on the preliminary compensation figure for the transfer of PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum), reports said Wednesday.

Minister of Industry MS Hidayat was quoted as saying that the negotiation teams of both sides arrived at a compensation figure of US$556 million during a negotiation round in Singapore Tuesday. Hidayat, however, added that an independent audit would be carried out this week to determine the real value of Inalum and the final compensation figure, with the possibility that the preliminary figure agreed yesterday could be either revised downward or upward, at a limit of $20 million.

The NAA 1975 contract in running the North Sumatra-based Inalum, which operates a giant aluminum smelter and hydropower plant, ended at the end of October. However, NAA, which holds 58.8 percent shares in Inalum has been locked in a protracted negotiation process over the value of the shares to be transferred to the government, which owns the remaining 41 percent.

Hidayat said that if everything goes smooth the termination agreement should be signed next week. (*)