Indonesian tiger is set to roar
15 Jan 2000
Indonesia has long been touted as one of the chemical industry's growth areas, and now the predictions are coming true. An international consortium has announced that it is to fund the country's first integrated aromatics and olefins complex, costing some £1.4billion.
The complex is slated for start-up in mid-1998, producing 700 000tpa of ethylene, 382 000tpa of propylene and aromatics. The Indonesian government has already issued a permit for the plant, according to Trans-Pacific Petrochemical Indomata, the local company which will own the majority share of the plant.
Indonesia's annual per capita consumption of polyethylene and polypropylene is around 10kg, compared with about 40kg in neighbouring countries like Thailand. The anticipated surge has led the consortium, which includes Thailand's Siam Cement and the Japanese Nissho Iwai Corporation, to join TPPI in funding the project. The former will own 20 per cent of the plant; the latter, 10 per cent.
