
| Southeast Asia
International consortium to fund petrochemical project
JAKARTA - Tirtamas Group, with Japanese partners Nissho Iwai Corp. and Itochu Corp. and a Thai company, will provide $1 million every quarter to finance the operation of a petrochemical project in Tuban, East Java.
The Bisnis Indonesia daily reported that construction of the petrochemical project worth about $3 billion had been delayed because of the economic crisis. The fund would be shared proportionally by the shareholders.
The Tirtamas Group holds a 70 percent stake in the project; Siam Cement Public Co., 20 percent; Nissho Iwai and Itochu Corp., 5 percent each.
The project is to produce ethylene and other petrochemical materials.
The four shareholders have already spent $200 million on the project. Earlier, the Tirtamas Group said its foreign partners had agreed to provide $475 million to save the olefin and aromatic project in Tuban, owned by PT Trans-Pasific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI), which had bad debts in several banks.
Tirtamas president Hashim Djojohadikusumo said a foreign investor has expressed its interest in providing additional funds needed to continue construction of the project.
The entry of foreign investors would open the way to restructuring of the joint venture company's debt of Rp593 billion.
(Asia Pulse/Antara)
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