Jakarta, July 12th, 2013 - PT ANTAM (Persero) Tbk (ASX - ATM; IDX - ANTM; ANTAM) announces today the preparation of the human resources for the Tayan Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA) project is progressing as planned. Since 2011, PT Indonesia Chemical Alumina, which develops the Tayan CGA project, has sent more than 50 personnel for training to Showa Denko K.K.'s CGA plant in Yokohama, Japan. Trainings were also conducted in Germany and China for on the job training and knowledge transfer.
ANTAM's President Director, Tato Miraza, said:
"The trainings of PT ICA's personnel to Japan and other countries will minimise the operational risk of the Tayan CGA project. These trainings will also ensure the competency of our human resources are at par with other alumina producers in the world."
The trainings of PT ICA's personnel in Japan and several other countries were in the field of process/production, technical/maintenance, quality control, human resources, information technology, finance and supply chain management. The Tayan CGA project is expected to generate 500 jobs, excluding other employment opportunities created both directly and indirectly inline with the development of the project.
The Tayan CGA Project is developed by PT ICA, a jointly controlled entity between ANTAM and Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) of Japan. ANTAM owns 80% shares of PT ICA and SDK holds the remaining 20%. The project cost will be financed by the two parent companie's equity investments in PT ICA, a loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), and bank loans with debt guarantee provided by the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC).
Construction of the project has begun since June 2011 and is expected to start commissioning in October 2013. The Tayan CGA Project will process ANTAM's bauxite reserves to produce 300,000 tonnes of CGA per annum.
The CGA products will be exported as well as sold to the Indonesian domestic market. The term of Chemical Grade Alumina (CGA) refers collectively to aluminum hydroxide and alumina for applications other than aluminum smelting. As an example, aluminum hydroxide, an intermediate product in alumina production, is used as coagulant for water purification. While alumina is widely used for the smelting of aluminum metal, alumina is also used in the production of functional materials and electronic materials. Applications include refractories, abrasives, building materials, IC packaging, and materials for LCD glass.
