State-owned fertilizer company PT Pupuk Sriwidjaja (Pusri) in Palembang, South Sumatra, has started the construction of a new fertilizer plant worth US$561 million.
The construction project is jointly being carried out by a consortium comprising PT Rekayasa Industri and Toyo Engineering Corporation and is supported by six banks: BCA, BJB, BNI, Mandiri, SumselBabel and UOB Indonesia.
Pusri president director Musthofa said on Monday that construction was due to be completed by 2015. "The new fertilizer factory will hopefully increase the company's daily production capacity to 2,000 tons of ammonium and 2,750 tons of urea," he said.
The ground-breaking ceremony was held on Monday to mark the start of construction on six hectares of land.
Musthofa said the new factory would be powered by a coal-powered electricity plant, enabling it to save up to 17 million metric standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of natural gas it normally used on energy.
Meanwhile, State-Owned Enterprises Minister Dahlan Iskan said he appreciated efforts to replace the factory’s energy source from natural gas to coal.
“South Sumatra is a province with the largest amount of coal reserves in Indonesia,” he said.
Dahlan further said that the fertilizer plant had a very strategic position in improving the prosperity of farmers in the country.
“Only farmers who use quality fertilizer can yield quality harvests, which are needed to strengthen national rice reserves,” said Dahlan. (asw/ebf)
