The Jakarta Post reported that state owned mining firm PT Aneka Tambang Tbk has secured USD 650 million in syndicated loans from four banks to build a ferronickel processing plant in East Halmahera, North Maluku, with an annual production capacity of 27,000 tonnes.
Arrangers of the syndicated loan are led by the nation's lending giants PT Bank Mandiri Tbk and PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk, as well as foreign top banks Standard Chartered Bank and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Limited.
Mr Alwinsyah Lubis president director of Antam said that "The lead arrangers will also advise and assess financing options, including formulating an optimal financial plan and financing strategy of the project."
Alwinsyah cited a long term project finance scheme for the syndicated loan, which means repayment, will be done using the project's cash flow, with the banks holding the project's assets, rights and interests as collateral.
The lead arrangers are part of a larger consortium of banks, which also includes Mandiri Sekuritas, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank, which will assist Antam in receiving the optimum combination of financing for its projects, including the East Halmahera ferronickel plant.
The project, which will convert nickel ore to ferronickel and create value added products to develop Antam's downstream business, needed USD 1.6 billion in investment, including USD 600 million to develop 275 MW power plants to be funded, built and operated by PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara.
The new ferronickel plant, one of the biggest projects in the Eastern part of the country, has a production capacity of 27,000 tonnes per year and is set to more than double Antam’s current annual output of 18,000 tonnes estimated in 2011.
Construction of the plant began in November 2011 and operation will start at the end of 2014. It is also part of Indonesia's Economic Expansion and Acceleration Master Plan for the Papua Maluku economic corridor to help accelerate economic development of local communities in North Maluku.
(Sourced from www.thejakartapost.com)
