Ferrostaal to Establish $2b Petrochemical Plant in Indonesia’s West Papua
(The Insider Stories) - Ferrostaal, a German industrial giant, plans to invest in a $2 billion petrochemical project in Indonesia’s West Papua province, a statement from Indonesia’s industry ministry said late on Monday.
The statement said the commitment was revealed on the sideline of a visit by Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to Berlin, the capital city of Germany. Yudhoyono was in Germany from Sunday night to Tuesday.
During the visit, Yudhoyono had a chance to meet Klaus Lesker, a member of the executive board at Ferrostaal.
During the visit, Indonesian industry minister MS Hidayat, the ministry’s director general for manufacturing sector Panggah Susanto and Indonesia’s head of the Investment Coordinating Board Chatib Basri, who accompanied Yudhoyono, signed a letter of intent with Lesker regarding the project.
In details, Ferrostaal, will be a developer and investor for the $2 billion worth of project to build plants and supporting infrastructures to produce methanol propylene and polypropylene from natural gas.
The project is set to be completed in 2019. As part of Indonesian government commitment to smooth out the project, it will allocate gas produced at home to the Ferrostaal plants, the statement said.
The statement cited Lesker, as saying that once the project is completed and the facilities are fully operational, it will help Indonesia to cut petrochemical imports by up to $600 million.
The project, he said, will give Indonesia the transfer of technology and absorbs a significant workers. Lesker said the project will create jobs for around 3,000 people.
The facilities are set to produce 400,000 tons of polypropylene per year.
There are also side products of gasoline, syntethic materials and liquid gas, in a small amount. These products will be marketed to domestic market.
Polypropylene and polyethylene are commonly used for synthetic products, such as in the plastics industry, food packaging, automotive, furnitures as well as parmaceutical.
