P

T Petro Jordan Abadi (PJA), a joint venture between state-owned fertilizer producer PT Petrokimia Gresik (PKG) and Jordan Phospate Mines Co., Plc (JPMC), will build a phosporic acid plant in Gresik, East Java, with a total investment of US$184.3 million, a top executive says.

PJA president director Chadek Anis said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the new plant, which would have a production capacity of about 200,000 tons a year, would supply PKG’s needs of phosporic acid, a raw material for its compound fertilizer.

“The plant will secure the national demand of fertilizers,” Chadek said in his remarks following the signing of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract between PJA and a consortium of PT Rekayasa Industri and Wuhuan Engineering Co., Ltd consortium at the PKG branch office
in Jakarta.

“It can also fulfill Indonesian cement manufacturers’ need of gypsum granulation,” Chadek added.

The construction of the new plant to be located in a 18.05 hectare area in the PKG industrial compound in Gresik, East Java, would begin in August and is scheduled for completion in January 2014.

According to Chadek, the company will use bank loans of up to $129 million to fund the project construction. “$109 million from Bank Mandiri and $20 million from Indonesia Exinbank,” he said.

According to the project’s feasibility study, the new plant will be able to produce 200,000 tons a year of phosporic acid, 600,000 tons of sulfuric acid a year and 500,000 tons of gypsum granulation a year. To support production, it will need 770,000 tons of phosphate rock a year and 200,000 tons of sulfur a year.

PKG president director Hidayat Nyakman said that PKG had already operated a phosporic acid plant with a production capacity of 200,000 tons a year. However, it has not yet met PKG’s need of 600,000 tons of phosporic acid a year to produce 2.2 million tons of compound fertilizer a year.

Hidayat also cited that the Jordanian company, JPMC, would supply PJA’s need of phosphate rock, a raw material for phosporic acid. “All this time, the JPMC has supplied between 60 and 70 percent phosphate rock to PKG,” Hidayat said.

“We also plan to revamp the existing plant’s capacity to 300,000 tons a year or 400,000 tons a year next year,” Hidayat told reporters without elaborating on details.

JPMC chairman and CEO Walid Kurdi said that his company had another two projects with Pupuk
Kaltim and Pusri.

“They are joint-venture [projects], similar to this one. We signed them last year and they are now [undergoing] feasibility studies,” Walid said.

PJA, established in 2008, has been planned as the biggest phospate manufacturer in Indonesia. PKG is the most complete fertilizer manufacturer in Indonesia, producing various kinds of fertilizers. (swd)