Two nickel smelters to be completed in October
Monday, September 4 2017 - 02:49 AM WIB
Petromindo|Thomas
Two nickel pig iron smelters are expected to be completed in October of this year, adding to the current 13 nickel smelters in the country, Kontan reported on Monday.
The paper quoted Director General of Coal and Mineral at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Bambang Gatot Ariyono as saying that the first smelter is owned by PT Bintang Smelter Indonesia in South Konawe, Southeast Sulawesi Province, with annual capacity of 575,000 tons.
The second is owned by PT Corr Industri Indonesia in partnership with PT Mulia Pacific Resources, PT Itamara Nusantara, and PT Bumi Konawe Abadi in Morowali Utara, Central Sulawesi Province, with capacity of 92,400 tons.
Bambang said on August 9 that out of the total 13 nickel smelters which have been developed in the country since the introduction of mineral ore export ban policy in 2014, three have stopped operating due to economic reasons, but not because of the government?s policy of allowing export of low grade nickel ores.
The three nickel smelters are owned by PT Indoferro, PT Bintang Timur Steel in Cilegon, Banten Province, and PT Cahaya Modern Metal Industry in Southeast Sulawesi Province. (*)