Petrokimia Gresik to Open East Java Phosphoric Acid Plant in Q2

By ID/Rozi Amrozi on 10:24 am Jan 02, 2014 Category Business, Corporate News Tags: fertilizer, Petrokimia Gresik, phosphoric acid Gresik, East Java. Petrokimia Gresik, a sate-run fertilizer company, plans to open a new phosphoric acid plant in East Java in the second quarter of 2014, a company executive said on Tuesday. “The new phosphoric acid plant, which is a joint venture with [Jordan Phosphate Mines], will be able to contribute to an increase in our revenues in 2014,” said Hidayat Nyakman, the company’s president director. Jordan Phosphate Mines (JMPC) is a mining company based in phosphate-rich Jordan. Phosphoric acid is an essential component in many commercial fertilizers. The $200 million plant, which has been under construction since the end of 2010, is expected to produce 200,000 tons of phosphoric acid per year for use in fertilizers on the domestic and foreign markets. Hidayat said the plant would increase the company’s production capacity and end the need to import raw materials to make fertilizers. Each company is to take a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, as per a January 2010 agreement. Petrokimia Gresik also plans to spend $160 million revamping is preexisting plant so that it too can produce 200,000 tons of phosphoric acid per year, and to expand the plant’s industrial compound to include a sulfuric acid plant with a capacity of 600,000 tons per year and a gypsum purification plant with a similar capacity. “The expansion of this phosphoric acid plant will assure a supply of phosphoric acid and therefore save foreign exchange for the state,” Hidayat said. The company said it required 600,000 tons of phosphoric acid to produce 2.8 million tons of NPK fertilizer a year, while its current phosphoric acid facility only produced one third that amount. Nugrohon Purwanto, Petrokimia Gresik’s commercial director, said that the weakening of the Rupiah had significantly impacted the cost of phosphoric acid imports. “With the operation of the phosphoric acid plant that is a joint venture with JPMC, our efforts to save production costs, which will enhance our competitiveness in the free market in the future, can be improved,” Nugroho said. The plant will require some 770,000 tons of phosphate and 200,000 tons of sulfur a year to meet its production goals. The company also plans to complete an upgrade of its water processing installation in Gunung Sari, Surabaya, Hidayat said, increasing its capacity from 720 cubic meters to 3,800 cubic meters per hour.