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ublicly listed Surya Esa Perkasa (ESSA) is considering establishing more plants on the site of its current ammonia factory project in Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, an executive has said.

The company'€™s president director, Garibaldi Thohir, said the location where the company was developing its ammonia plant could host more factories to produce value-added products.

'€œWe have plots of land that are still vacant and can be developed as a complex [of factories]. We have reported this to the Coordinating Economic Minister,'€ Garibaldi said.

He added that the land could host five more factories, to produce such commodities as ammonium nitrate and methanol.

Development of more plants on the ammonia factory site is likely to begin after 2017, according to Garibaldi. '€œWe also have to examine the market and the supply of gas,'€ he said.

Surya Essa, through its 60 percent owned subsidiary Panca Amara Utama, is currently working on the development of an ammonia plant on the 200-hectare site in Banggai.

The plant, which will be the biggest ammonia factory in the country, will only require 35 hectares of the land. The plant will produce 700,000 tons of ammonia per year and is estimated to cost US$830 million.

The ground-breaking of the Banggai plant took place on Sunday and construction is expected to be complete within 27 months.

Under the plan, the ammonia plant will receive 55 million standard cubic feet per day (mmscfd) of gas from the Senoro-Toili block upon the factory completion in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Panca Amara will need to secure greater gas supply if it wants to expand production in its current ammonia location. Gas supply has frequently been a hurdle at several projects in the country.

The Banggai plant was initially targeted to be in commercial operation by the end of 2016. However, various issues ranging from land acquisition to gas supply, have delayed the project.

Indonesia, which is estimated to have significant natural gas resources, has long been a major exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as domestic demand is lower than supply.

The government has been calling for a higher utilization of gas for the domestic market, however, lack of adequate infrastructure for gas delivery has hampered this ambition.

'€œWe are expecting more supplies from the Senoro-Toili and Matindok fields,'€ Panca Amara executive director Vinod Laroya said.

Under the current plan, the Banggai plant will deliver its products to the domestic market, although currently no sales or purchase agreements have been sealed with domestic buyers.

Indonesia'€™s ammonia demand is between 300,000 to 400,000 tons per year, according to Laroya.

'€œGiven the plant capacity of 700,000 tons, we will be able to meet the entire demand,'€ he said.

The development of the Banggai plant involved financing from a variety of international institutions. Late last year, Panca Amara secured a syndicated loan worth $509 million led by the International Finance Cooperation and involving seven international banks.

The plant is estimated to generate up to $250 million for the company when it is in full operation.