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PT Smelting commits Rp 3.2 trillion to expanding copper smelter
The move would mark the company's fourth expansion since beginning operations in 1996.
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Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto (third from right) and Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita (second from right) during PT Smelter's expansion ceremony in Gresik, East Java, on Saturday. (Courtesy of PT Smelting)
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opper refining company PT Smelting is slated to invest Rp 3.2 trillion (US$222.8 million) in the expansion project of a smelter in Gresik, East Java.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto and Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita inaugurated the project on Saturday. The expanded smelter is slated to begin commercial production in late 2023.
Irjuniawan P Radjamin, PT Smelting director of business and commercial development, said the expansion would increase the smelter’s processing capacity to 1.3 million tons of copper concentrate per year, up from the current 1 million tons.
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The processing capacity upgrade is estimated to increase copper cathode production by 30 percent to 342,000 tons. Copper cathodes can be further processed into electrical wiring, pipes and car batteries, among other products.
PT Smelting began operations in 1996 with a copper cathode output of 200,000 tons. The company expanded capacity to 255,000 tons in 1999, then to 270,000 tons in 2001 and 300,000 tons in 2009. The latest plan marks the company's fourth expansion project.
“The increase in production capacity will strengthen Indonesia’s [position] as one of the world’s biggest copper-producing countries,” he said.
