Three smelters construction to kick off next year

By Bambang Atmaja

Industry Minister MS Hidayat said on Friday that miners are to start building three smelters in eastern parts of Indonesia next year. Minister Hidayat said that the construction would begin at the first quarter, but he did not elaborate the detail of the location.

"At the first quarter there are some miners to start building (smelters). Three are ready for the construction, for bauxite," he told Petromindo.com at the State Palace.

Coordinating Minister for Econony Hatta Rajasa earlier told Petromindo.com that the government would build about 20 processing plants nationwide. However, Minister Hidayat said that there were still problems with electricity supply. "Not all the targeted places for building smelters have enough supply of electricity. We are continuously coordinating it with PLN ," he said

Editing by Adianto P. Simamora