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nglo-Dutch multinational Unilever NV and Plc may see its total investment in a new oleochemical plant in the Sei Mangke special economic zone (KEK) in North Sumatra swell as the rupiah continues to weaken, a senior executive of the firm'€™s local arm has said.

'€œThe value of the investment will likely increase as the US dollar and euro keep strengthening against the rupiah,'€ Unilever Indonesia external relations director and corporate secretary Sancoyo Antarikso said Thursday.

He estimated that the total investment that his firm'€™s parent company would disburse for the new plant could hit Rp 2 trillion (US$166.6 million), up from the previous calculated value of Rp 1.5 trillion.

The rupiah exchange rate slumped to its lowest level since February on Thursday at Rp 12,030 against the US dollar, also weakening from a position of Rp 11,271 on April 1, according to the Jakarta Interbank Spot Dollar Rate (JISDOR).

Unilever had started construction of its oleochemical plant in April last year and was set to commence operations in the first quarter next year with an annual output of 200,000 tons of olein and other chemical products, Sancoyo told reporters.

Of the total output, around 15 to 20 percent would be for Unilever Indonesia and the remainder would be exported to its sister companies in Asia, Europe and Latin America, he revealed.

The plant will be run by Unilever Indonesia'€™s sister company PT Unilever Oleochemical Indonesia.

Sancoyo said that Unilever expected the government to immediately develop infrastructure in Sei Mangke to help ease the distribution of olein and other chemical products to and from the oleochemical plant.

'€œWe do hope that the government can accelerate the construction of both roads and railways, such as those to connect Sei Mangke'€™s mainland to the port city Belawan,'€ he said.

The government has allocated no less than Rp 430 billion to develop a 30 kilometer-railway connecting Sei Mangke and Kuala Tanjung as part of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesian Economic Development (MP3EI) program.

The project was initially set to start operating in January this year. Coordinating Economic Minister Chairul Tanjung previously said that the government expected the railways from Sei Mangke to Belawan to commence operation in March next year.

Unilever Indonesia'€™s Sancoyo said that once the railways had been established, Unilever Oleochemical could use cargo trains, which were faster and more efficient than trucks, to transport its products.

Unilever Indonesia, which is the largest consumer goods firm in the country, saw a 13.9 percent increase in its sales in the first six months this year to Rp 17.5 trillion from Rp 15.4 trillion in the same period last year.

The firm'€™s shares, which are traded on the bourse under the code UNVR, traded at Rp 31,975 apiece on Thursday'€™s close, up 0.24 percent from the previous day. The stocks have risen 4.8 percent so far this year, underperforming compared to the broader Jakarta Composite Index'€™s (JCI) 21.9 percent advance.