A combined USD 2.03 Billion investment is lined by both the companies
September 26, 2015
Indonesia hopes to increase pulp production by 30 percent in the next two years on the back of the expansion of two commodity conglomerates, the Industry Ministry said.
The country’s annual pulp production capacity is expected to reach 10.25 million tons in 2018 from the current 7.9 million tons, said Pranata, director of forestry and plantation manufacturing at the Industry Ministry.
Ogan Komering Ilir Pulp & Paper Mills, a unit of conglomerate Sinar Mas Group, is building Asia’s largest pulp and paper mill with the capacity to produce two million tons of pulp a year. Sinar Mas is investing Rp 29 trillion (USD 1.9 billion) in the plant, Pranata said.
Sateri Viscose International, a subsidiary of pulp and paper giant Asia Pacific Resources International, or April, is also making a 350,000-ton capacity pulp plant with an investment of USD 1.13 billion, he added.
Both plants are expected to be online next year with full production capacity to be reached by 2017. The country imported 773,970 tons of long-fiber pulp worth USD 589,700 last year. In the same period, the country shipped USD 1.7 billion worth of pulp abroad, according to Trade Ministry data.