PT INALUM REGISTERS BETTER PERFORMANCE IN THE HANDS OF INDONESIANS

by Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, June 3 (Antara) - Aluminum manufacturer PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (Inalum) in Asahan, North Sumatra, has been registering better performance than it did when it was operated by a Japanese joint venture firm.          It had been operated by Japan, as the majority shareholder, since 1976 through Nippon Asahan Aluminium (NAA) with 12 private Japanese firms as part of the joint venture.          The Indonesian government took over Inalum after its contract with the Japanese side expired on October 31, 2013.          Hj Meilizar Latif, a member of North Sumatra's Legislative Assembly (DPRD), said in 2012, that Inalum, with an annual production capacity of 230 thousand-240 thousand tons, reported a profit of US$12 million in 2010, while its debt burden reached US$70 million.          After it was taken over by Indonesia, the company seems to have increased its production. During the April-December 2014 period, it was able to double its profits as compared to the corresponding period in the previous fiscal year.          "The company booked a net profit of US$128.7 million, up significantly by 201 percent from US$64 million in the fiscal year 2013," Winardi, the president director of PT Inalum, noted in a written statement on Monday, last week.

SOE MINISTRY TO TAKE OVER INALUM FROM JAPAN

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Oct 23 (Antara) - The House of Representatives agreed on Tuesday to hand over PT Inalum's management to the State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) Ministry following the government's decision to acquire it after three years of negotiations with the Japanese government.          The House made the decision in its joint meeting with all parties, as the government decided not to extend the expired contract of PT Inalum, an aluminum joint venture between Indonesia and Japan in which Indonesia held 41.13 percent of the company's shares and Japan owned 58.87 percent.          "House Commission VI and the government agree to hand over the management of Inalum to the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry based on the law," Commission VI Chairman Airlangga Hartarto said when reading a statement at the conclusion of the joint meeting with Industry Minister MS Hidayat and SOE Minister Dahlan Iskan, at the Parliament building here on Tuesday night.          The meeting was also attended by Head of the Government Development and Finance Comptroller (BPKP) Mardiasmo and North Sumatra Governor Gatot Pujo Nogroho.          The House agreed to the results of negotiations carried out by The Asahan Project Negotiation Team, formed by the President in 2010.          "We hope the takeover process will be smooth so that the government will own 100 percent of PT Inalum's stake beginning November 1, 2013," Hartarto said, referring to the contract of the joint venture firm, which will expire on October 31, 2013.