JAKARTA: Publicly listed state-owned tin producer PT Timah (TINS) is seeking Rp 3 trillion (US$230.5 million) in loans to build a steam-fueled power plant in South Sumatra, a move that will support the government’s ambitious goal of adding 35,000-megawatt (MW) of electricity to Indonesia’s power grid over the next five years.
Timah corporate secretary Agung Nugroho said after an annual shareholders meeting Thursday that his firm would seek bank loans of between Rp 2 and Rp 3 trillion to finance the development of the plant.
“We’ve been in talks with a state-owned lender about financing options,” he said.
Timah president director Sukrisno added his firm was currently waiting for a permit from the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to start the construction of the plant, which would have capacity of 2×150 MW.
“Once the permit is granted, we will start construction. We expect the construction will take around two years,” he said.
Timah plans to partner with state-owned construction firm PT Adhi Karya on the strength of an initial investment of Rp 150 billion, he went on.
Timah would aim to have a 51 percent stake and Adhi the remaining 49 percent, he said.
Besides venturing into the power plant business, Timah will also expand its businesses in other non-mining sectors, including dockyard construction, property and hospitals.
Sukrisno said his firm would allocate Rp 1.2 trillion in capital expenditures this year, with funds sourced from its standby loans of Rp 3 trillion.
From the Rp 1.2 trillion, some Rp 60 to Rp 80 billion would be used to build two new tin smelters, Rp 70 billion for dockyards and Rp 105 billion for developing hospitals, he said.
“We are aware that we cannot depend solely on our tin business, as tin is a nonrenewable resource,” he went on.
Sukrisno predicted the firm’s non-mining businesses would make up 75 percent of total revenues in coming decades, replacing supplanting tin, which currently accounts for 95 percent of revenue.
Timah, which is the world’s-largest tin exporter, recorded a 10.25 percent increase in its net profit to Rp 637.9 billion last year, up from Rp 578.6 billion in 2013, despite the slump in global tin prices.
The government and all tin producers in the country have agreed to slash exports beginning April 1 to decrease global tin supply and help global tin prices recover. Tin prices previously hit a low of around $17,000 per ton.
Timah would export 2,500 tons of tin per month, while private tin producers would export 2,000 tons of tin per month, Sukrisno said.
Timah expects to book Rp 1 trillion in net profit this year, provided that its non-mining businesses start developing and tin prices climb to around $22,000 per ton.
Indonesia is currently the world’s second-largest tin producer, with a total output of 66,000 metric tons last year. The country is surpassed only by China, which had a total production of 168,000 metric tons in 2014.
