Indonesia’s PT Semen Gresik plans to build a IDR3.5 trillion new cement plant next year in an effort to boost long term sales, its finance director said.
 
"To finance the development of the new cement plant, we plan to issue IDR1 trillion in bonds and seek $100m loans from credit agencies," Gresik Finance Director Cholil Hasan told Dow Jones Newswires.
 
He said the remainder of the investment for the new plant will be sourced from the company’s own internal cash.
 
"We expect the bond to be issued in the second half of 2007," Cholil said, adding that the internal cash will be used to prepare the preliminary development of the plant by early next year.  Cholil said the new cement plant will have a capacity of 2.5Mta.

Meanwhile, PT Holcim Indonesia, the country’s third largest cement maker, plans to build a new cement factory in Tuban, East Java as part of efforts to expand its market, National Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) chairman Mohamad Lutfi said. 
 
"Holcim wants to expand their operation. They haven’t applied for the new plant but they have assigned a team to study the expansion prospect in Tuban, East Java," Lutfi told reporters. 
 
Holcim Indonesia currently operates two plants - at Narogong, West Java and in Cilacap, Central Java - with a combined annual capacity of 7.9 mln tons employing about 3,200 people.