Bosowa breaks ground on new plant

The Bosowa Group has kicked off construction of a clinker grinding plant in Sorong, northern cost of Papua, Indonesia, with a groundbreaking ceremony.

The new plant will have a capacity of 0.75Mta and is scheduled to be operational by January 2014, according to Bosowa chief Erwin Aksa. The plant will be operated by Bosowa subsidiary Bosowa Sorong, and the output will be sold to consumers in provinces in Papua and Maluku.

Cement consumption on the island of Papua is around 0.9Mta with prices reaching IDR100,000 (US$10) mainly due to high distribution costs.

The company has constructed similar facilities in Batam and Banyuwangi, East Java.

Mr Aksa said the companies will also increase cement capacity in Sorong to 1.2Mta within the next three years.

The Bosowa Corporation, he added, plans to invest US$800m until 2015 to strengthen its manufacturing business, 30 per cent of which will be funded by internal cash and the remainder in loans.