PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium has set a long-term goal of tripling its production capacity by expanding operations to the island of Borneo as it seeks to utilise the region’s abundant bauxite reserves.
The State-owned company known as Inalum plans to boost capacity to 750 000 tons by building a 500 000-tons smelter in North Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of Borneo, as power supply constraints limit the expansion of its sole facility in Kuala Tanjung, North Sumatra, according to MD Oggy Achmad Kosasih. He didn’t give a timeline.
The existing smelter relies on electricity from a hydro plant that can only provide enough power for 250 000 tons of aluminum a year, Kosasih said in an interview on Monday in Kuala Tanjung. The company is trying to increase output to 300 000 tons by upgrading its furnace, he said.