THE COORDINATING MINISTRY FOR ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Main Building, Ministry of
Finance, Jl. Lapangan Banteng Timur No.2-4 Jakarta 10710
Tel: (021) 351-1178
Fax: (021) 351-1186 Website: http://www.ekon.go.id
Trade and Investment News[1], 16 March 2009
Highlights
National
·
President Yudhoyono to make appearance at G-20
summit
·
US President Barack Obama and President Yudhoyono
discuss issues
Politics
·
President Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party ahead in
polls
Terrorism
·
Security
·
Law
& order
·
Supreme Court rules out re-appointment of corrupt
regents
Economy
·
US, Indonesian leaders agree to close cooperation on
economic crisis
Business
briefs
Macroeconomy
·
Central bank optimistic on lower interest rates
Investment
·
PT Semen Tonasa to spend $260 million to expand
cement production capacity
State
concerns
·
Boost in exports of South Sulawesi cocoa with major
SOEs
·
Profits at state-owned companies expected to fall by
10% this year
·
Construction company looks to $1.4 billion in
projects so far this year
Private
sector
·
Honda to build new people carrier in
·
Allianz posts gains in insurance revenue in 2008
Banks
·
UOB Buana looks at 15% credit increase, in line with
market
·
Bank Century comes off watch list after rescue
operation
Power
·
First ‘crash program’ expansion project plant at
Labuan starts commissioning
Oil
& gas
·
Medco seals deals with Japanese buyers for Sulawesi
LNG
Mining
·
Contracts to be signed for six coal-bed methane
projects
NATIONAL
President
to attend G-20 summit
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
will fly to
The president will definitely attend the
summit, scheduled for April 2, despite his hectic schedule ahead of the
legislative elections on April 9, presidential spokesman Dino Djalal said.
The London summit is a follow-up to the
Washington summit in November last year, which Yudhoyono attended, and aims at
reaching international agreement on reviving the world's slumping economy.
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said earlier
that Indonesia would again propose the global expenditure financing scheme
which it introduced at the Washington summit.
"The global expenditure financing will
allow all countries access to the funds to revise each of their real
sectors...We will struggle to get the concept adopted as a joint effort of the
international community to tackle the crisis," Wirajuda said.
Obama,
SBY discuss financial crisis, terrorism
US President Barack Obama telephoned Indonesian
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Friday to discuss mainly economic issues,
but they also touched on education, health care, climate change,
counterterrorism and bird flu, The Associated Press reported.
The two leaders also discussed Obama's commitment
to forging a new relationship with Islamic countries. At the end of his
European trip next month, Obama is scheduled to visit
They also talked about how to make progress
on democracy and human rights in
The
“The two leaders also discussed the prospects
and preparations ahead of the G-20 Summit in
Regarding bilateral relations between
Mt.
The Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation
Center (PVMBG) has advised residents living around
PVMBG head Surono said
Since its alert status was raised to the
highest level on March 6 after an eruption, the center recorded a drop in
eruptions and tremors with 873 eruptions, or around 34 tremors daily, with
three discharge tremors and 18 volcanic tremors.
He added that Semeru was showing anomalies,
evidenced by the drastic drop from up to 150 eruptions on normal days, to less
than half that now.
When it erupted on March 6, its crater had
not emitted a significant amount of volcanic material, but only light smoke
which spewed only 50 meters high, in stark contrast to its eruption in May last
year when it discharged hot clouds up to 700 meters high.
The Australian Meteorological Agency has frequently
requested updates on
Flight operators have expressed concern that silica-laden
ash could pose risk to flights if it enters plane engines.
POLITICS
Yudhoyono’s party ahead in polls
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's
Democratic Party is leading its rivals ahead of elections next month, an
analyst said Thursday, citing a new opinion poll, reported Agence
France-Presse.
The party, which the liberal ex-general
founded in 2001, is on target to become the largest in the country after the
April 9 general elections, according to the joint poll by four survey institutes
released this week.
The Democrats will sweep aside the more
established Golkar and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said
analyst Sunny Tanuwidjaja of the Center for Strategic and International Studies
which co-produced the survey.
"The popularity of the Democratic Party
has been lifted thanks to Yudhoyono's status. His government is considered
successful following his popular move to cut fuel prices," he said.
The Democratic Party had 21.52% support in
the survey, ahead of the opposition PDI-P of former president Megawati
Sukarnoputri, which had 15.51%.
The largest party in Yudhyono's parliamentary
coalition, Golkar, won just 14.27% support. Five other parties - including
those which claim to base their policies on Islamic teachings - scored less
than 5%.
"Most of the Islamic parties are busy
with internal conflicts which have contributed to their declining
support," Tanuwidjaja said.
Yudhoyono's anti-corruption campaign, which
has resulted in convictions against a number of senior lawmakers and officials
in recent months, had pulled the rug from under the Islamic parties' claims to
be cleaner. "Yudhoyono's anti-graft campaign appeared to be more
real," Tanuwidjaja said.
KPU assures simultaneous polls on April 9
Despite ballot delivery delays and an
unresolved final voter list, the national polls body assured the public that
the legislative elections would go ahead as scheduled on April 9 simultaneously
throughout the country, The Jakarta Post
reported.
The General Elections Commission (KPU)
claimed the 30 days prior to the elections were more than enough to address
logistics snags, including ballot deliveries to the most remote areas in Papua
and
“I am optimistic there will be no delay,” KPU
logistics head Dalail said. He added the KPU would seek help from the Armed
Forces (TNI) to speed up the distribution of ballots to remote districts.
The KPU and the TNI signed a memorandum of
understanding last Wednesday on the distribution of ballots, under which the polls
body will pay for the fuel needed to transport the ballots.
On Thursday, the KPU finally announced its
final voter list, bumping up the number of registered voters by almost 200,000
people, The Jakarta Globe reported.
“The new number for the final voter list,
comprising both national and overseas voters, is 171,265,442,” said KPU chairman
Abdul Hafiz Anshary.
The KPU had initially announced a final list
on October 24, but decided to revise it after reports that many voters were
left unregistered, while some people on the list did not exist.
TERRORISM
S. Sumatra terror suspect claims bin Laden ordered
attack
Mohammad Hasan alias Fajar Taslim told judges
at the South Jakarta District Court on Thursday that the planned bombing plan
of the Bedudel café in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, was an order from al Qaeda
leader Osama Bin Laden, Okezone reported.
Taslim is one of 10 suspected members of
terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) on trial over charges related to their
activities in the southern
They were arrested by a National Police
Detachment 88 anti-terrorist squad during a raid at a rented house in
“I designed the bombing. My arrival there was
to carry out Bin Laden’s order,” Taslim told the court, adding that the bombing
was going to be similar to the 2002 Bali bombing in an attempt to take “revenge
towards the US and its allies for the war in Afghanistan and Iraq.”
Taslim said he observed the café while
another suspect, Ki Agus Muhammad Toni, was going to carry out the bombing.
“I aborted the plan because I could not
predict the explosion’s range despite my experience in assembling C4 and TNT
bombs in
Taslim also said he planned the murder of
Dago Simamora, a junior high school teacher in
Two other defendants Wahyudi and Ali Mashyudi
expressed remorse over the planned bombing. “I want to be a good citizen,” said
Wahyudi.
SECURITY
Indonesia opened a defense university on
Wednesday, a step in the transition of its military from political players to professional
armed forces as Jakarta aims to play a greater global security role, Reuters reported.
"The institution will transform military
and defense education with the long-term aim of transforming and modernizing
the Indonesian armed forces' culture," Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono
said at the opening, saying there was "urgent need in improving skills and
capabilities in strategic defense".
The Armed Forces play a key role in policing
the Strait of Malacca, among the world's busiest shipping lanes used by vessels
supplying about 80% of the energy needs of
Commenting on the opening of the university,
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said "I hope that this institution can
improve and widen the understanding of military officers or anyone who is
interested in defense, security, and other strategic issues."
Singapore-Indonesia
defense talks at stalemate
The Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA),
signed by the two heads of state in Bali on April 27, 2007, was never ratified
by the Indonesian legislature, among other reasons, because the frequency and
volume of military exercises proposed by
Under the agreement,
According to Sudarsono,
Sudarsono said he did not know the reason
behind
On Tuesday, Singapore Foreign Minister George
Yeo and his Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirayuda, signed a treaty on the
maritime boundary between the two countries.
Wirayuda was reported to have said no mention was made regarding the DCA during the treaty signing.
LAW
& ORDER
Corrupt
regents cannot be reappointed: Supreme Court
Regents who have been found guilty of graft
cannot be reappointed or re-elected after serving their sentences, Supreme
Court Deputy Chief of Judicial Affairs Abdul Kadir Mappong said on Thursday,
reported Tempo.
According to Mappong, Home Minister
Mardiyanto earlier asked the Supreme Court to clarify the matter.
“The Supreme Court’s official ruling will
soon be sent to Mardiyanto,” he said.
The issue arose after the North Minahasa
Regional House of Representatives in
“We believe it is inappropriate for a regent
who received a guilty verdict in a graft case to be reappointed,” said Mappong.
On May 16 2008, the
“The law states that someone who has been
found guilty of graft or terrorism cannot serve as regent. If the regent has already been sentenced then
he or she must be removed from office. If the legal process is ongoing, the
defendant must be suspended from their position,” said Mappong.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Harifin A. Tumpa
also said the central government can directly dismiss a convicted regent
without the approval of the respective Regional House of Representatives.
ECONOMY
Obama, Yudhoyono discuss economic crisis
US President Barack Obama on Friday spoke to
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono about the global economic crisis,
underscoring warming relations between the two countries.
Few details of the telephone call were
released but Indonesia recently asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for
stand-by facility to further underpin the country’s safeguards.
"The president had a wide-ranging
telephone discussion with President Yudhoyono this morning," a White House
statement said, Agence France-Presse reported.
"The president consulted with President
Yudhoyono on the global economic crisis and affirmed the need for close
cooperation, noting the upcoming G-20 Summit that both leaders will
attend."
Obama and Yudhoyono will meet at the G-20
economic summit of developed and developing nations in
The leaders also discussed avian influenza,
climate change, counterterrorism and how to bring democracy and human rights to
In addition to the World Bank consortium
stand-by loan and any possible financial backing from the
The head of fiscal policy of the ministry of
finance, Anggito Abimanyu, said Tuesday that every member state was required to
contribute to the plan, which would cost
Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister
for Economic Affairs Sri Mulyani said foreign donors would also support
Indonesia's idea to form a stand-by loan which is formally called as public
expenditure support facility (PESF).
The PESF is one of the government's efforts
to deal with the impact of the current global financial crisis and part of a
series of comprehensive steps taken by the country to deal with the challenge,
including a fiscal stimulus package worth $6.1 billion.
"The PESF is a contingency planned to
maintain international and domestic markets' confidence and to boost the
country's capacity to seek funds needed to finance development," she said.
The government could access stand-by loans
and bond securities made available in the facility to finance its infrastructure,
social and other important programs when markets could not provide the needed
funds at a reasonable cost.
The facility assures that the government
would not reduce spending and public services badly needed in view of the
impact of the current global crisis, she said.
World Bank would contribute up to $2 billion
to the PESF while Japan would add up to $1.5 billion and Australia and the ADB
respectively up to $1 billion, Indrawati said.
The country’s banks are reported to be moving
into a more secure position, reducing lending and parking money in short-term
central bank certificates as the global economic crisis continues to impact the
country.
Bank Indonesia (BI) banking statistics state
that outstanding loans fell to Rp1,289.84 trillion in January from Rp1,307.69
trillion in December, The Jakarta Post
reported Friday.
The total volume of January loans outstanding
was the lowest total loan portfolio figure in the last four months.
Placements by banks at BI rose Rp24.51
trillion to Rp346.84 trillion in January from Rp322.33 trillion in December,
according to the report.
Of this amount, short-term BI certificates (SBIs)
attracted Rp208.51 trillion in January, a Rp41.99 trillion increase on total
holdings of Rp166.52 trillion in December.
Meanwhile, the level of third party funds
slid to Rp1,748.81 trillion from Rp1,753.29 trillion.
The pace of the economy is contracting as a
result of the crisis. BI data revealed a slight decline in lending rates from
an average 14.2% in the last week of December 2008 to 13.93% by the second week
of March, while deposit rates declined from 8.75% to 8.32%.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono urged the
banking industry to lower lending rates to help drive the economy, which is now
relying heavily on domestic consumption and government spending.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said
Wednesday the government had told state banks to initiate steep interest rate
cuts but BI deputy governor Muliaman D. Hadad said that in normal times, banks
would need two to three months to adjust lending rates to new BI rates.
Vice President Jusuf Kalla meanwhile said
Wednesday the economy will expand 4.5-5% this year, a more optimistic figure
than the central bank's forecast now revised down to 4%, Reuters said.
“Compared to other countries,
The economy grew a weaker-than-expected 5.2%
in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, but was better compared to Asian
neighbors such as
BUSINESS
BRIEFS
MACROECONOMY
BI sees more room for cuts
The central bank sees further room to cut its
key interest rate, a senior central banker said on Tuesday, in the wake of
1.75% points in total cuts since December, Reuters reported.
"We still have room to cut interest
rates as inflation in the medium term is slowing," said Senior Deputy
Governor Miranda Goeltom.
"The cut in interest rates is likely to
be followed by persuasion and regulation to ensure that bank lending starts to
grow. But lending, however, is a matter of trust."
The central bank cut its key interest rate by
a bigger-than-expected 50 basis points earlier this month, bringing it down to
7.75%, the lowest level since the rate was introduced in 2005, to support
consumer demand and bank lending.
INVESTMENT
Semen Tonasa to build fifth cement plant
Cement producer PT Semen Tonasa will start
construction of its fifth production facility with an annual production
capacity of 2.3 million tons in April, Investor
Daily reported on Tuesday.
The subsidiary of state cement producer PT
Semen Gresik now has four factories.
The other three plants have a total annual
capacity of 3.48 million tons, Director General of Downstream Chemical Industry
Tony Tanduk said.
The cost of building the fifth unit is
estimated to be around Rp2.87 trillion ($260 million) if using machines and
equipment from
Meanwhile, another subsidiary of Semen Gresik
PT Semen Padang in
Construction of the new plant, which will
increase the production capacity of Semen Padang to 7.54 million tons, is
expected to start toward the end of this year, Tanduk said.
The new factories planned by the two state
companies are expected to be operational in 2011.
Pelindo III to spend Rp1T on new port project
State port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia
(Pelindo) III said it will spend Rp1 trillion ($8.3 million) for the first
phase of development of a new port in Teluk Lamong, East Java, Asia Pulse
reported.
Construction of the multifunction port, which
is expected to be fully operational in 2011, is estimated to cost Rp2.5
trillion, Pelindo III President Suprihat said Wednesday.
The Teluk Lamong port will serve as an
expansion of the country's second largest
Sinar Mas to build new cooking oil factory
Sinar Mas Group said it will have a new
cooking oil factory to start operation in Bekasi in July this year with a
capacity to produce 1,000 tons per day, Bisnis
Indonesia reported Friday.
The new factory will increase the daily
production capacity of Sinar Mas to 3,200 tons of cooking oil with crude palm
oil as the basic material, assistant Vice President Octovianus Geuther said. He
provided no estimate for the investment involved.
Sinar Mas already has two factories - in
The company group also produces margarine and
crude palm oil and part of its production is exported to areas including the
Biznet to invest Rp300B in fiber optics
An internet service provider and operator of
fiber optic networks Biznet Network said it will invest up to Rp300 billion to
build new fiber optic networks in the country this year.
Biznet President Adi Kusma said the company
will build a total of 500 km of fiber optic networks in
The market is still wide open for fiber optic
networks in the country, Adi told Investor
Daily.
Biznet is providing bandwidth service in
Currently the company has 10,000 subscribers
in the three largest cities in Java dominated by corporate subscribers
including banks, securities companies, logistics and tour and travel operators.
Hutchison to build 3,000 new BTS units
PT Hutchison CP Telecom (HCPT)
Suresh Reddy, HCPT chief executive officer,
refused to provide a cost estimate but said the company has set aside $1
billion for capital spending until 2010.
The company, which is 60% owned by PT
Hutchison Telecommunications International and 40% by PT Charoen Phokhpand, had
no intention to change its investment commitments in
He said the company has succeeded in listing
more subscribers, up from 3.6 million in the third quarter of 2008 to 4.5
million by February.
STATE
CONCERNS
Cocoa bean exports from the country’s main
cocoa-producing
"The increase was mainly because more
vessels came to
Traders have said that bad weather was to
blame for slow shipments in January.
About 12,000 tons of cocoa beans were shipped
out to the
The data showed that
SOEs
State-owned companies profit may fall 10%
State-owned companies’ profits may fall about
10% this year as commodity prices decline, cutting dividend contributions to
the government, an official said, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
Net income at companies including PT Tambang
Batubara Bukit Asam and PT Pertamina may fall to Rp70 trillion from Rp78
trillion in 2008, secretary to the state-owned enterprises ministry Said Didu
said, adding that the government may get Rp25 trillion in dividend payments
from the companies.
The contribution of state companies in the
form of dividends in 2009 is expected to drop to Rp26.1 trillion from the
proposed Rp31.1 trillion.
Didu said state-owned oil company Pertamina
would remain the biggest net profit contributor followed by telecommunication
firm PT Telkom, the four state banks - Bank Mandiri, Bank BRI, Bank BNI and
Bank BTN - and state companies operating in the mining and energy sectors.
Pertamina is expected to book a net profit of
Rp19-Rp20 trillion this year.
Didu explained that besides global financial
crisis, the decline in state companies` profit was also due to the decrease in
operational expenditure of almost all state companies, Antara reported.
In 2009, the total operational expenditure of
all state firms is estimated at Rp836.34 trillion, compared to the 2008 figure
of Rp962 trillion.
Wika sees Rp17T in projects ahead
State-owned construction company PT Wijaya
Karya (Wika) expects to win Rp17 trillion ($1.41 billion) worth of projects
this year, including Rp7.7 trillion in carry-over projects from 2008 and Rp200
billion in new deals secured in January, director Budiharto said, The Jakarta Globe reported.
Reports said Tuesday that the company’s
construction unit could bring in 65% of its revenue and it was planning to bid
for Rp991 billion worth of government construction projects.
A terminal project in which Wika participated
cost approximately Rp68 billion, Budiharto said.
Ganda Kusuma, Wika’s finance director, said
in December that the company expected to post a net profit of Rp175 billion in
2009, up 21.5% from an estimated Rp144 billion in 2008, largely due to
anticipated contracts for government infrastructure projects.
The company also expected sales to grow by
15.6% to Rp7.4 trillion this year, compared with an estimated Rp6.4 trillion
last year.
With overall economic growth expected to
slow, analysts have said that construction companies — and particularly
state-owned firms — may try to capitalize on an expected 10% boost in public
infrastructure spending that could bring total government infrastructure
outlays to Rp61.8 trillion this year.
Last month Kusuma said that Wika’s plan to
acquire an as-yet unnamed mining services contractor in
The company currently has Rp500 billion in
reserves, about Rp307 billion of which was raised through the company’s initial
public offering in October 2007.
Govt. to merge Kimia Farma and Indofarma
The government said Friday that it would
merge state-owned drug makers PT Kimia Farma and PT Indofarma as a single
company that produces pharmaceutical products.
Deputy to State Minister for State
Enterprises Muchayat said the ministry had assembled a team to implement the
merger.
“PT Mandiri Sekuritas has been chosen as the
lead advisor in the merger,” Muchayat said, Tempo Interaktif reported on Friday.
He added that the ministry was still looking
for legal advisors, accountants and other experts to support the team.
PRIVATE
SECTOR
Honda to make minivan in Indonesia
The company also plans to export the Freed
from
Honda and other Japanese automakers are
expanding in Asia, where economic growth is boosting auto sales, in contrast to
declines in the US and Japan.
Honda’s plant in
Mercedes Benz was also reported to be
conducting a study to determine whether its luxury vans will be produced in
Allianz
Insurance company Allianz
Its life insurance unit PT Allianz
LifeIndonesia contributed Rp2.9 trillion to the income, up from Rp2.7 trillion
in the previous year. PT Allianz Utama
Reisch said Allianz Life and Allianz Utama
both recorded profits respectively amounting to Rp128.8 billion and Rp43.8
billion in 2008.
Alliance Life has risk-based capital (RBC) of
306% and Allianz Utama 162%, a healthy financial condition, he said.
RBC, which is set at least 120% by the
government, is capital needed to cover risks of default, cash flow mismatch,
currency mismatch, higher claims than expected and insufficient premium.
Daihatsu exports dip on-month
Exports of Daihatsu cars in completely
built-up form (CBU) fell slightly by 9.5% to 1,179 units in February from 1,303
units in the previous month, Asia Pulse reported.
The February exports, however, represented a
224% increase year-on-year, the car maker PT Astra Daihatsu Motor (ADM) said
Wednesday.
ADM vice president Sudirman MR said the
global financial crisis had begun to bite, weakening demand in some export
destinations.
Multipurpose vehicle Gran Max, which was
growing in demand abroad, was the largest contributor to the exports, which
included Terios, Avanza and Rush models of MPV, Sudirman said.
Telkomsel aims for 20% increase in income
Voice service contributes 90% to the total
income of the subsidiary of state telecommunication company PT Telkom, sales
and outlet operation manager for
Roeswandi, who gave no figure for income,
said, in a bid to boost voice traffic Telkomsel has expanded its network
capacity by building more base transceiver stations (BTS).
The company plans to build up to 200 more
units of BTS this year.
Holcim books record net profit
Indonesia's third largest cement maker PT
Holcim Indonesia Wednesday announced that it had achieved a record profit in
2008 due to stronger sales in the first half of the year and a significant drop
in fuel costs in the second half, The
Jakarta Post reported.
Holcim booked a net profit of Rp282 billion
last year, up 67% from Rp169.41 billion in 2007, supported by a 28% increase in
sales over the same period to Rp4.8 trillion from Rp3.75 trillion.
“The cement industry in general, including
Holcim, has been saved by fuel prices plunging in the third and fourth
quarter,” Syaiful Adrian, an analyst at PT Ciptadana Sekuritas, said.
“Meanwhile, sales were strong in the first half of the year.”
Rusli Setiawan, a director at Holcim, said
the company’s stronger sales were driven by buoyant domestic market conditions
and the company’s aggressive marketing campaign.
The company is also planning to buy an
affiliate in the region to support exports amid stagnating domestic sales,
Bloomberg reported.
Holcim president Timothy Mackay said that the
acquisition would be less than $100 million.
Holcim, previously known as PT Semen
Cibinong, had a 14% share in the country’s cement market, compared with
Gresik’s 44%. Exports accounted for 12% of the company’s Rp4.8 trillion sales
in 2008.
By the end of last year, Holcim increased its
cash holdings by 25% over the previous year to Rp853 billion.
BANKS
Bank UOB Buana to continue credit expansion
PT Bank UOB Buana is set to chalk up a 15%
increase in credit to Rp17 trillion this year from Rp14.8 trillion last year, Bisnis Indonesia reported.
This year the publicly listed bank would not
be as aggressive in credit expansion as last year when its credits grew 20%,
director Syafrullah Hadi Saleh said Tuesday.
Saleh said the bank will focus more on credit
expansion in the small and medium business sector which currently accounts for
75% of its credit disbursement.
The bank, which is controlled by United
Overseas Bank
With third party funds totaling Rp16.8
trillion, the bank has enough liquidity to support its expansion plan.
Bank Century off central bank's watch list
Ailing mid-sized Bank Century has succeeded
in increasing its capital adequacy ratio (CAR) to 8.63% from a negative 2.3%
late last year, allowing it to graduate from Bank Indonesia's watch list, The Jakarta Post reported on Saturday.
The bank, which has been under surveillance
of the central bank for the past three months, now has a CAR slightly above the
minimum level of 8% set by the central bank.
Maryono, who was named by the government to
manage the bank after it was taken over by the Deposit Insurance Corp (LPS) in November,
said third party funds held by Bank Century had also increased from minus Rp2
trillion to Rp315 billion at present.
"Bank Century, facing liquidity problems,
was taken over by the government agency, which injected Rp2 trillion in capital
that helped regain the public confidence in the bank," he was quoted as
saying by the newspaper.
The new management has also succeeded in
reducing its non performing loan ratio from 16% in December to 9.3% and pledged
to reduce it further to 6% by the end of this year.
Rabobank to focus credit expansion on agriculture
PT Bank Rabobank International Indonesia said
it will focus credit expansion more in the agricultural and agribusiness sector
this year, Investor Daily reported
Saturday.
Credit for the agricultural and agribusiness
sector will make up 80% of total credits this year from 65% last year, said
Kussujanarko, vice president of the Indonesian subsidiary of Rabobank.
Rabobank
Based on data at Bank
A slight increase was also recorded in its
assets to Rp10.97 trillion from Rp10.11 trillion but its capital adequacy ratio
shrank from 16%to 13%.
OCBC NISP to set up shariah unit
OCBC Indonesia NISP is set to have a shariah
unit in operation in the second half of the year to support its plan to expand
its banking market in the small and medium enterprise sector, Asia Pulse
reported Saturday.
The bank, which is controlled by OCBC
Singapore, has set an expansion target of 15% this year.
OCBC NISP president Parwati Surjaudaja said
the shariah unit will offer shariah financing service especially in the retail
sector and small and medium enterprise sectors.
Currently the bank management is consulting
with the Indonesian Ulema Council and setting up its shariah supervision
council before seeking a license from Bank
POWER
Firing scheduled for first ‘crash program’ plant
State power company PT PLN will proceed with
the first firing of coal-fired power plant PLTU Labuan in Banten in April. The
plant is the first project under the crash 10,000 MW program, Antara reported.
J Purwono, Director General of Electricity
and Energy Utilization at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, said
Wednesday that the first firing would occur one month behind the original
schedule of March.
"We plan the first unit of PLTU Labuan
with a capacity of 300 MW to start first firing in April," he said.
The first firing is the first operation of
equipment like boilers and turbines, prior to commissioning and synchronization
to the national power grid.
Purwono said the first firing followed by
commissioning will last one to two months, so that synchronization will be
carried out in June 2009 as scheduled.
The second unit of PLTU Labuan, also with
capacity of 300 MW, will be synchronized in September.
PLTU Labuan is located in Sukamaju,
PLN has already signed a contract on the
purchase of coal with four coal suppliers: a consortium of PT Arutmin
Coal supplies will come from South Kalimantan
and
OIL
& GAS
Medco signs LNG deal with Chubu, Kansai
PT Medco Energi International has signed a
head of agreement to supply a total of 2 million tons a year of liquefied natural
gas to two Japanese buyers, Reuters reported on Friday.
Under the agreement, Medco will sell 1
million tons of LNG from the Donggi-Senoro LNG plant on
"We signed the agreement in February.
The contract will run for 15 years," Mahfoedz said without giving details
on prices.
In August last year, state oil firm
Pertamina, Medco and
The three firms signed an agreement in August
2007 to build the $1.4 billion Donggi-Senoro LNG plant, which will have a
capacity of 2 million tons per year. It is expected to be operational by 2012
or 2013.
Medco expected the government to approve the
LNG plant by the end of this month, Mahfoedz said, warning the project would be
delayed if approval was not forthcoming.
"We hope to get the government approval
so that we can execute the final investment decision. Otherwise, there will be
a delay and we will miss the opportunity," Mahfoedz said.
The project has been criticized by
legislators for selling natural gas to the LNG plant too cheaply.
The plant should give LNG production in
Anadarko
upbeat on China,
Anadarko Petroleum has launched ambitious
deepwater plans this year for
In
"We think this is our next deep-water
play, and we’re going to have success like we’ve had in West Africa and
The wells in
Pertamina to seek crude oil for Balongan from UAE
State-owned oil company Pertamina will seek
sour crude oil supplies from the
Pertamina planned to increase capacity at
Balongan in
"We will hold further talks with ADNOC
(Abu Dhabi National Oil Co) on future sour crude oil supplies," she said.
She gave no time line for the expansion of
Balongan, which currently processes sweet crude from Minas and Duri.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has urged
Pertamina to build new refineries to cut imports of oil products.
Construction of new refineries has also
become more pressing in the past few years as domestic demand grows.
Pertamina's marketing director, Achmad
Faisal, has said previously the state energy firm planned to build new
refineries adding a combined 400,000 bpd of capacity in
Pertamina has nine refineries in
MINING
Govt. to sign six CBM contracts
The government will sign six cooperation
contracts for the development of coal bed methane (CBM) reserves in May, an
official said Wednesday, Bisnis Indonesia
reported.
Joint studies carried out by the six
contractors in their respective concession areas have been completed, Oil and
Gas Director General Evita Herawati Legowo said.
Legowo said the proposals by the six
contractors are part of 54 proposals submitted by prospective investors.
Signing is expected in May but the
signatories among the prospective investors and some details about the
investment are yet to be announced, she said.
The government hopes to sign a total of 14
CBM contracts this year.
Adaro plans acquisition to improve supply
The country’s second largest coal producer,
PT Adaro, plans to acquire a coal barging and trans-shipment company to improve
its supply chain, the company said in a statement Thursday, Reuters reported.
Adaro did not identify companies being
targeted for acquisition, but said negotiations were taking place and an
announcement was planned in the coming weeks.
"As our coal mine is located quite far
inland, it is imperative we acquire direct control of the inland waterway
transportation and ship loading," said Ah Hoo Chia, Adaro's operations director.
"We already control a portion of the
mining and overland transportation and own a port facility; now we can be
completely linked from pit to port."
The firm said it expected the acquisition
value would not exceed $100 million and would be funded from existing cash and
operating cash flows.
With the planned acquisition, the firm said
it expected additional capital expenditure on top of the $120 million capital
expenditure planned for this year.
Adaro said it was still planning a 68-km
overland conveyor, alongside the existing haul road, from the excavation area,
near Tanjung, South Kalimantan, to the final processing facility, the
The overland conveyor would have a production
target of 80 million tons by 2013, the firm said.
Adaro would also construct a mine-mouth power
plant with two generating units of 30 MW each to power the overland conveyor at
an expected cost of around $140 million, it said.
"The power plant has other sources of
income and uses, such as providing power to the local surrounding communities
and providing power to other potential improvements at Adaro's mining
site," the firm said.
Adaro expects to produce between 42 and 45
million tons of coal this year, up from 38.5 million tons in 2008, with all
supplies sold for this year and 75% of the volumes priced.
The firm said last month, 2009 revenue was
projected to reach $2 billion, helped by healthy sales secured in long-term
contracts.
Adaro has not released full financial result
for 2008 but analysts have forecast $1.40 billion revenue for 2008.
Bukit Asam records 135% jump in 2008 net profit
State-owned coal miner PT Tambang Batubara
Bukit Asam said its net profit jumped 135% last year, having sold more coal at
higher prices, The Jakarta Globe
reported on Friday.
The company, which holds about a quarter of
the country’s coal reserves, said its audited net profit surged to Rp1.71
trillion last year. Sales rose 75% to Rp7.23 trillion.
“The rise in profit was due to the higher
volume and price of coal sales,” Eko Budhiwijayanto, Bukit Asam’s corporate
secretary, said.
He said the company had sold 12.8 million
tons of coal in 2008, an 18% rise over the 10.8 million tons sold a year
earlier.
“Around 65% of the company’s coal was sold in
the domestic market, with the remaining 35% sold overseas,” he said.
Budhiwijayanto also said the company enjoyed
higher revenue last year as the average price of coal for export rose 45% to
$68.73 per ton, up from $47.50 in 2007.
The average domestic coal price increased by
47% to Rp507,240 per ton from Rp345,645 in the previous year.
Bukit Asam expects to sell 14.5 million tons
of coal in 2009, a 13% increase over 2008, due to higher volumes of coal
trading and increased deliveries by train, including to state utility PT PLN.
In addition to producing its own coal, Bukit
Asam also purchases coal from smaller miners and resells it domestically and
internationally.
===***===
[1] This Trade and Investment News is a publication of the
Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia.
Readers are welcomed to forward it in its original form but no reproduction is
allowed without permission.