TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Pertamina, TPPI kicks off maiden paraxylene export
Change Size
The refinery owned by PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama in Tuban, West Java. (Antara Photo/Aguk Sudarmojo)
S
tate energy holding company Pertamina and PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) kicked off its maiden export of 10,000 tons of paraxylene, a petrochemical product, to China, according to a press statement received on Monday.
The export was made possible after the production capacity of the TPPI refinery was increased.
"With the capacity, we can produce 70 tons of paraxylene per hour. Hence, production will be 50,000 tons per month," TPPI general manager Sugeng Hermanto said in the statement.
TPPI is a subsidiary of PT Tuban Petrochemical Industries, of which Pertamina controls 41 percent.
Paraxylene is the main raw material used in producing purified terephthalic acid, which is an important component in the textile industry. Paraxylene is also processed into polyethylene terephthalate, the main material used in producing food grade plastic packaging.
Sugeng further said the company had to export the product because national paraxylene production had exceeded domestic demand.
Pertamina aromatic olefin manager Darius Darwis added that the company would increase exports of petrochemical products, especially to regional markets such as China.
"Pertamina and TPPI will use a tender scheme to find the best buyer that would meet the production plan at TPPI refineries," he said. (bbn)
