Oil, Gas, Mining , Business and Trade Updates from Indonesia

Oil, Gas, Mining, Business and Trade updates from Indonesia







- Indonesia Cuts Max Rupiah Deposit Rate, $ Steady
- Major Indonesian Banks Initiate Cuts In Lending Rates
- TABLE-Asia's FX reserves climb by $65.3 bln in May
- Indonesian Army Equip. Co Pindad Set To Earn Us$140 Mln In 2009
- Indonesia's Bakrie Plantations Set To Double Capital Spending
- Indonesian Property Firm BSD To Spend $70 Mln On Projects
- Indonesia's Kadin Hopes Credit Interest Rates Set At 10 Pct
- India Raises Next Year's Export Target To Indonesia To $15 Bln
- Qatar Telecom makes changes to Indosat board
- Indosat Taps Former GE Money Exec As CEO;Replaces 6 Directors
- Britain Praises Indonesia's Success In Stabilizing Rice Prices
- Indonesia Lifts Restriction On Poultry Meat Imports
- Most Tourists Visiting Indonesia's Maluku Come From Europe
- Pertamina 1Q Net Pft Dn 56% At IDR3.6 Tln On Lower Oil Prices
- Indonesian state oil firm expands overseas drilling
- Pertamina's 230,000 b/d CDU at Cilacap running at 90% capacity
- Indonesia's Pertamina EP Puts $9 Mln To Up Oil Output
- Idemitsu to double lubricant capacity in Indonesia
- Asia Crude-Indonesia seeks more Aug-arrival crude
- Korea's Stx Pan Ocean Wants Share In Indonesian Oil Refinery
- Archipelago 2008 loss widens on higher costs
(Courtesy Joyo News Service)
Indonesia Cuts Max Rupiah Deposit Rate, $ Steady
JAKARTA, June 11 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state-owned deposit
insurance corporation (LPS) said on Thursday it has cut its
maximum guaranteed rupiah deposit rate to 7.5 percent from 7.75
percent, partly due to easing inflationary pressures.
But the agency kept the guaranteed dollar deposit rate unchanged
at 2.75 percent.
The new rates are effective on June 15.
"Going forward inflationary pressures will tend to be relatively
low, the BI (Bank Indonesia) rate has been cut and the overall
banking liquidity has improved," executive director Firdaus
Djaelani said.
He added that commercial banks have gradually been cutting
deposit rates.
The central bank has cut its key interest rates by a
total of 2.5 percentage points since December to 7.0 percent,
and has said it may cut further in response to easing inflation
and a firm rupiah currency . (Reporting by Dicky
Kristanto; Writing by Andreas Ismar; Editing by Ed Davies)
-----------------------------
Major Indonesian Banks Initiate Cuts In Lending Rates
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - Major Indonesian banks have
initiated a cut of at least 50 basis points in credit interest
rates this month expected to encourage other banks to follow the
lead.
Three state banks - Bank Mandiri (JSX:BMRI), Bank Negara
Indonesia (JSX:BBNI) and Bank Rakyat Indonesia (JSX:BBRI), and
three private banks - Bank Central Asia (JSX:BBCA), Bank Mega
(JSX:MEGA) and OCBC NISP - have decided to cut their credit
interest this month.
Bankers optimistic bank lending rates would decline to not more
than 10 per cent by the end of this year from around 15 per cent
at present , the newspaper Investor Daily said.
Agus Martowardojo, the president of Bank Mandiri, said the
country's largest lender in assets would start to cut its credit
interest rate by 0.5 percentage point on June 15.
The business sector and investors have complained about bank
interest rates being too high blamed mainly for sluggish growth
of the real sector.
------------------------------
TABLE-Asia's FX reserves climb by $65.3 bln in May
SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) - Asian holdings of foreign
exchange reserves, excluding those of China's, rose by $65.3
billion in May to $2.53 trillion, central bank data showed.
The pace of reserve accumulation accelerated from $15.2 billion
in April.
The overall increase in May was led by a $14.3 billion jump in
South Korea's reserves and the rise of $12.5 billion in Japan's
and $11.7 billion in those of Hong Kong.
The build-up in foreign currency reserves was broadly in line
with suspected interventions by some Asian central banks to
limit currency rises in recent weeks.
Asia's overall holdings of foreign exchange reserves, including
China's holdings until March, rose to $4.48 trillion last month,
the data showed.
China releases reserves data at the end of every quarter. The
country's hodings, the world's largest, stood at $1.95 trillion
at the end of March. Latest foreign exchange reserve holdings:
Country Reserves As at end-2008 percentage
$ billion $ billion change China 1953.70 Mar 31 1946.00 0.40
Japan 1024.01 May 29 1030.65 -0.64
India 312.64 May 29 254.61 22.79
Taiwan 262.31 May 29 291.71 -10.08
South Korea 226.77 May 29 201.20 12.71
Singapore 205.10 May 29 174.20 17.74
Hong Kong 171.80 May 29 182.50 -5.86
Malaysia 88.30 May 29 91.40 -3.39
Thailand 121.50 May 29 111.00 9.46
Indonesia 57.90 May 29 50.00 15.80
Philippines 39.32 May 29 37.06 6.10
Pakistan 11.19 May 23 09.66 15.84
Bangladesh 6.56 May 29 5.79 13.30
TOTAL 4,481.10 4,385.78 2.17
Asia ex-China: 2,527.40
* In April 2005, China injected $15 billion in foreign exchange
reserves into the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China , the
country's largest lender, to help it restructure to sell stocks.
* In December 2003, China used $45 billion of reserves to bail
out Bank of China and China Construction Bank [CCB.UL] .
Those funds are not included in this figure.
Sources: central banks. (Reporting by Kevin Yao)
-----------------------------
Indonesian Army Equip. Co Pindad Set To Earn Us$140 Mln In 2009
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - Indonesian state-owned producer of
military equipment PT Pindad is set to triple its income to
Rp1.4 trillion (US$140 million) this year.
Chief spokesman Timbul Sitompul said company management was
optimistic the target could be achieved.
The military transport division had secured orders for 150 units
of armored vehicles worth Rp1.1 trillion from the defense
ministry.
Orders were also expected for ammunition worth Rp176 billion and
military weapons valued at Rp95 billion, Sitompul said to the
newspaper Bisnis Indonesia
------------------------------
Indonesia's Bakrie Plantations Set To Double Capital Spending
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantations
(JSX:UNSP) has decided to double its capital expenditure to
Rp250 billion (US$25 million) this year, from Rp125 billion set
previously.
The company needed more funds for replanting in 2,700 hectares
of oil palm plantations in West Sumatra and North Sumatra, its
President Ambono Januarianto said.
The company also planned to build a palm oil processing factory
in Central Kalimantan, Ambono said.
A company director Howard James Sargeant said that planting
would cover 7,000 hectares of oil palm plantations this year and
8,000 hectares next year.
Last year, the company posted Rp2.93 trillion in sales, with net
profit at Rp173.57 billion, the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia said.
-------------------------------
Indonesian Property Firm BSD To Spend $70 Mln On Projects
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - Indonesian publicly listed
property company PT Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) (JSX:BSDE) said it
will spend Rp700 billion (US$70 million) this year to build new
residential houses and commercial buildings .
The company has enough funds from internal cash to finance the
investment, BSD Director Hendrianto Kenanga said.
Hendrianto said the condition is not favorable in the property
market but the company is set to chalk up net profit at least
the same as last year when its net profit reached Rp223 billion.
In the first quarter of this year the company posted Rp53
billion in net profit or the same as last year though sales
shrank 37.21 per cent to Rp210.5 billion, he was quoted as
saying by the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia.
--------------------------------
Indonesia's Kadin Hopes Credit Interest Rates Set At 10 Pct
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (Kadin) hoped for a drop in credit interest rate by
10 per cent from 16-24 per cent for micro, small and medium
business (UMKM) credits.
"The current UMKM credit interest rates are still too high,
although they contribute a great deal to banks compared to those
from big business enterprises," deputy general chairman of Kadin
for UMKM and cooperatives Sandiaga Uno said in Jakarta
Wednesday. Sandiaga said right now the banks are still imposing
high interest rates on UMKM ranging from 16 to 24 per cent, so
that many small and medium businesses had been complaining about
the high credit interest rates they have to pay to the banks.
Sandiaga said that actually the banks and government need to
give lower interest rates to UMKM compared to those for big
businesses which should pay interest rates of up to 12 per cent.
He also said that the interest rate payments by the UMKM players
could also give a subsidy to medium and big businesses, while
actually it should be the other way around.
Sandiaga added that a reduction in interest rate is supposed to
have a positive impact on credits for UMKM, because this sector
provides a great contribution to the national economic growth.
In the meantime, chairman of the Association of Indonesian
Sidewalk Vendors Yudi Lazuardi asked banks to simplify
applications for smallholder credits for UMKM players and lower
high interest rates.
"We also hope the banks will raise business capital on a routine
basis to enable UMKM to reach progress in their operations,"
Yudi said.
------------------------------
India Raises Next Year's Export Target To Indonesia To $15 Bln
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - India is set to boost exports to
Indonesia with target set at US$15 billion in 2010.
Originally the target was set at US$10 billion for next year but
it was already achieved last year, Indian Trade Minister Anand
Sharma said in Denpasar where he attended the Cairns Group
meeting yesterday.
Sharma said he is optimistic the new target could be reached if
the two countries could weather the impact of the global
financial crisis.
Meanwhile, Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu
described trade relation between the two countries as growing,
the newspaper Bisnis Indonesia said..
India is an important trade partner for Indonesia , Mari said,
adding India is a major market for Indonesian crude palm oil and
coal.
------------------------------
Qatar Telecom makes changes to Indosat board
DUBAI, June 11 (Reuters) - State-controlled Qatar
Telecommunications Co (Qtel) said on Thursday shareholders had
approved changes to the board of Indonesia's PT Indosat Tbk , in
which Qtel has a 65 percent stake.
The new board will have five instead of 10 members and will have
three new members, Sasongko Tirtotjondro, Peter Kuncewicz and
Steve Hobbs, Qtel said in a statement.
Tirtotjondro, who served as chief executive officer of GE Money
Indonesia, will replace Johnny Sjam as president director from
August, the statement said. Indosat, Indonesia's second-largest
mobile phone operator in terms of market share, reported a 82.4
percent drop in its unaudited net profit for the first quarter,
hit by the rupiah currency's fall against the dollar. (Reporting
by Dania Saadi; Editing by David Holmes)
-----------------------------
Indosat Taps Former GE Money Exec As CEO;Replaces 6 Directors
JAKARTA, June 11 (Dow Jones)--PT Indonesia Satellite Corp.
(ISAT.JK) Thursday appointed a former GE Money executive as its
new chief executive and replaced six of its board of directors,
the company said, following a shareholders meeting.
Harry Sasongko, previously the head of GE Money Indonesia, will
replace Johny Swandi Sjam as the chief executive of Indonesia's
second-largest cellular provider, the company said.
Further details weren't immediately available.
-----------------------------
Britain Praises Indonesia's Success In Stabilizing Rice Prices
LONDON, June 11 Asia pulse - Britain has praised Indonesia for
its success in stabilizing its rice prices through the state
logistics agency (Bulog), a Bulog official said.
Director for planning and development of Bulog, Mohammad Ismet,
said on Thursday Britain expressed its appreciation for
Indonesia`s success in stabilizing rice prices during an
International Grains Council (IGC) conference held at the Queen
Elizabeth II Conference Center here.
He said Bulog was invited by the IGC because it wanted to hear
about Indonesia`s success in stabilizing rice prices. Ismet
explained Indonesia`s strategy during the conference which was
held in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the council.
Ismet said the world rice price in 2008 was not stable reaching
over US$1,000 per metric ton while Indonesia was able to keep
its rice price at a stable level of about US$500 per metric ton.
"They wanted to know the strategy applied by Indonesia," he said.
He said that in 2008 Indonesia did not import any rice but was
able to increase its rice production and Bulog was able to
absorb 34 million tons of rice at home. "This constituted a new
record for Bulog," he said.
Ismet said Indonesia`s rice stocks at the beginning of 2009
reached 1.4 million tons and it had now increased to 2.5 million
tons.
------------------------------
Indonesia Lifts Restriction On Poultry Meat Imports
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - Amid growing global protectionism,
Indonesia has lifted restrictions and has allowed imports of
poultry carcass and meat.
The policy is based on a regulation of the agriculture minister
issued on April 8, also allowing the import of other animal
husbandry product including pork and beef, a report said.
The new regulation nullifies a previous ministerial regulation
in 2006 regulating imports of those products, the newspaper
Bisnis Indonesia said.
The Indonesian Poultry Community Forum protested the regulation
saying the policy will badly hurt the domestic animal husbandry
industry .
Don P. Utoyo, the chairman of the forum said the government
should discuss with related associations and poultry farmers
before making such decision.
------------------------------
Most Tourists Visiting Indonesia's Maluku Come From Europe
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - Most of the foreign tourists
visiting Indonesia's Maluku province come from European
countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, and France, a
tourism official said.
"Of the 3,000 foreign tourist arrivals in Maluku in 2008 about
70 per cent were made by European tourists," chief of Maluku`s
Tourism and Culture Service, Rosmita Pawa, said here over the
weekend.
She said the remaining 30 per cent foreign tourist arrivals came
from various other countries in Asia such as Japan, South Korea
and India.
"The local government of Maluku sets a target of 5,000 to 8,000
foreign tourist arrivals in the province in 2009," Rosmita said
on the sidelines of the National Tourism Expo at the Jakarta
Convention Center (JCC).
She said that in order to realize the target her office had made
intensive efforts such as launching promotions and taking part
in exhibitions to introduce the province`s tourism potential.
In the meantime, director for tourism convention, incentive and
promotion affairs of the directorate general for tourism and
culture, Nia Nurcaya said that the number of foreign tourists
who visited Indonesia during the first quarter of this year
reached 1,893,155.
"Most of the foreign tourists who arrived in the country in the
first quarter of this year came from Australia, Malaysia and
China,"
She said that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the
first quarter of 2009 increased 1.53 per cent if compared to
those arriving in the same period a year earlier.
The increase in the tourist visits in the first quarter is
significant and encouraging as it happens at a time when the
country is facing the impact of global economic crisis.
Nia said that the international tourist flows in other countries
in the first quarter of 2009 were actually declining.
------------------------------------------
Pertamina 1Q Net Pft Dn 56% At IDR3.6 Tln On Lower Oil Prices
JAKARTA, June 11 (Dow Jones)--Indonesian state-owned oil and gas
company PT Pertamina recorded a 56% decline in first quarter net
profit from a year earlier due to tumbling oil prices globally.
Pertamina said in a letter to parliament that was seen by Dow
Jones Newswires Thursday that its audited net profit tumbled to
IDR3.6 trillion ($358 million) in the January-March quarter from
IDR8.3 trillion a year earlier as average crude oil prices
dropped to $40 a barrel from $90 a barrel.
It added that it booked IDR80.4 trillion in revenue during the
first three months of 2009. But, it didn't provide a comparative
year-earlier figure.
Pertamina booked net profit of IDR30.2 trillion for the entire
2008.
----------------------------
BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific
June 11, 2009
Indonesian state oil firm expands overseas drilling
Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua
(New China News Agency)
[Xinhua: "Indonesia's Pertamina Expands Oil Drilling To
Overseas"]
Jakarta, June 11 (Xinhua) - Indonesia's PT Pertamina, the
state-owned oil company, is actively developing oil and gas
blocs overseas to add its reserve and production, the private
news portal kompas.com quoted an official as saying on Thursday.
"To increase reserve and production, Pertamina tries to obtain
new production fields overseas or domestically. These efforts
are conducting by cooperating with foreign oil and gas
companies," said Karen Agustiawan, the company's president
director here.
She also said that Pertamina and one of a national oil and gas
company were joining a tender of oil production bloc in Iraq. In
Libya and Algeria, Pertamina is exploring cooperation with local
state-run oil and gas companies to get license to manage oil
blocs there.
The company is also acquiring new fields in Qatar, Malaysia,
Vietnam, Australia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico and China.
Frederick Siahaan, Pertamina's director of finance, said that
the company was ready to materialize the expansion plan.
"Pertamina is preparing a special capital spending to fund new
oil and gas blocs worth 3.2 trillion rupiah (about 318.7 million
U. S. dollars)," he said.
Source: Xinhua news agency, Beijing, in English 0759 gmt 11 Jun
09
-----------------------------
Platts Commodity News June 11, 2009 Pertamina's 230,000 b/d
CDU at Cilacap running at 90% capacity
Jakarta -- Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina said Wednesday that
its 230,000 b/d crude distillation unit in the Cilacap refinery
in Central Java was running at 90% since Tuesday night, after it
was restarted following a shutdown June 3.
"The unit reached 90% last night [Tuesday]," Pertamina's vice
president for communications Basuki Trikora Putra said, adding
that the unit had been started earlier at a lower capacity,
which was later ramped up.
Pertamina had shut the unit June 3 due to a fire in the furnace,
which was caused by a broken tube.
Cilacap has two crude distillation units with a capacity of
118,000 b/d and 230,000 b/d, respectively. The 118,000 b/d CDU
was running normally.
Meanwhile, Pertamina is seeking additional gasoil imports of
600,000 barrels this month due to the unexpected shutdown.
Indonesia has seven refineries with a capacity of 1.05 million
b/d, all owned and operated by Pertamina. The country imports
crude and fuel to meet domestic demand, as the country's output
is insufficient.
Anita Nugraha, newsd...@platts.com
----------------------------
Indonesia's Pertamina EP Puts $9 Mln To Up Oil Output
SANGASANGA, E Kalimantan, June 11 Asia Pulse - PT Pertamina EP,
a subsidiary of state-owned oil firm Pertamina, is to spend Rp90
billion (US$9 million) to increase its oil production in East
Kalimantan from 5,100 barrels per day (bpd) to 5,500 bpd, a
spokesman said.
The funds will be used to finance the drilling of two new wells
in North Kutai Lama (NKL) oil field and the renovation of a
number of oil storage facilities in its operation area, general
manager of Pertamina EP`s business unit for Sangasanga and
Tarakan, Satoto Agustono, said here on Wednesday.
Based on calculations made by Pertamina EP, each of the wells
could produce 200 bpd. "If everything runs smoothly, the two
wells in NKL are expected to come on stream by the end of this
year because a license from the Oil and Gas Regulating Body (BP
Migas) has been secured," he said.
He said that there was also another investment fund amounting to
Rp50 billion for the repair and additional supporting facilities
such as distribution pipeline networks and oil accommodation
stations in NKL, Sangasanga, Samboja and Tarkan.
"The renovation of the facilities is badly needed because of the
facilities are already aging, even some of them came from the
Dutch colonial era," he said.
In 2009, Pertamina sets its production target at 171.900 bpd to
be produced by its subsidiaries: PT Pertamina EP with 125,500
bpd, Pertamina Hulu Energi with 34,700 bpd, Cepu with 6.7
thousand bpd and acquired companies with 5 thousand bpd. The gas
production in the meantime is set at 1,123 million cubic feet
per day.
In order to achieve the production target, Pertamina will in its
oil production apply the enhanced oil recovery technology and
optimize its production in its main oil fields in Sukowati,
Tambun, Limau and Polent, Minister of Energy and Mineral
Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro said.
------------------------------
Idemitsu to double lubricant capacity in Indonesia
TOKYO, June 11 (Reuters) - Japanese oil refiner Idemitsu Kosan
Co said on Thursday it would invest $13.5 million to more than
double its production capacity for lubricant in Indonesia, to
meet projected growing demand for motorcycles. Idemitsu's
subsidiary in Indonesia will boost the annual capacity to 65,000
kilolitres (410,000 barrels) by October 2010 from 25,000 kl now.
The company projects a boost in its lubricant sales in Indonesia
to 63,000 kl in 2015 from 20,000 kl it sold last year. Idemitsu,
Japan's third-biggest oil refiner, also said it has set up a
lubricant subsidiary in Dubai to start direct sales of lubricant
in the Middle East and Africa.
Idemitsu, Japan's largest seller of lubricant, sold 880,000 kl
of lubricant worldwide in fiscal 2008, and is ranked among the
top 10 makers globally. (Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori)
----------------------------
Asia Crude-Indonesia seeks more Aug-arrival crude
SINGAPORE, June 11 (Reuters) - Singapore-based Petral, the
trading arm of Indonesian state oil firm Pertamina, has issued a
second tender to buy sweet crude for August arrival, a trader
said on Thursday.
The tender closes on June 12, with offers to remain valid until
June 15.
In the first August tender, Petral bought just 1.9 million
barrels of sweet crude, including 950,000 barrels each of
Algerian Saharan Blend and Azerbaijan's Azeri Light crude, down
from the 5.25 million barrels bought for July arrival.
[ID:nSP434336]
Petral started issuing oil tenders after Pertamina gave it
purchasing rights. (Reporting by Judy Hua; Editing by Clarence
Fernandez)
------------------------------
Korea's Stx Pan Ocean Wants Share In Indonesian Oil Refinery
JAKARTA, June 11 Asia Pulse - South Korea's energy company STX
Pan Ocean Co. Ltd wants to take part in the project to build an
oil refinery in Bojanegara, Banten.
State oil and gas company PT Pertamina, the National Iranian Oil
Refinery and Distribution Company (NIORDC) and Malaysia's
Petrofield plan to build a US$4.5 billion oil refinery in
Bojanegara.
The Korean company wants to join the consortium, Pertamina
Processing Director Rukmi Hadihartini said .
The refinery will be built by phases starting with a processing
capacity of 150,000 barrels of crude oil per day to be expanded
later to 300,000 barrels.
Earlier Rukmini said the government needs to offer generous
incentives and facilities to encourage the investors to
implementation of the project immediately.
-------------------------------
Archipelago 2008 loss widens on higher costs
* Pretax loss widens 120 pct
* Sees Indonesia production in H2 of 2010 if conditions met
* Major shareholder makes equity investment
* Shares fall as much as 6 pct
June 11 (Reuters) - British gold miner Archipelago Resources Plc
posted wider losses in 2008 on higher administrative expenses
and a delayed project but said 2009 started well with an equity
investment by a major shareholder, Baker Steel.
The AIM-listed company said it incurred a loss on ordinary
activities before tax of $10.3 million for the year ended Dec.
31, 2008 compared with $4.65 million a year earlier, as
administrative expenses more than doubled to almost $10 million.
Archipelago Resources said 2008 involved "continued frustration"
over development of its Toka Tindung gold project in Indonesia,
which has been delayed due to environmental concerns by the
North Sulawesi provincial government.
"Provided unanimous political support and project financing are
secured by the third quarter of 2009, production at Toka Tindung
would be expected to commence in the second half of 2010, at an
average annualised rate of 160,000 oz gold equivalent for the
first six years of the initial 8.5 year project life," the
company said in a statement on Thursday.
The company said while the project delay has added to the
overall development costs, it has not been required to enter
into any forward sales contracts.
Archipelago expects to save construction costs for Toka Tindung,
currently estimated at $65 million, as cancellation and
postponement of new mining projects around the world reduces
demand for material and labour.
At 0805 GMT Archipelago Resources shares were down 5.3 percent
at 13.50 pence on the London Stock Exchange, having dropped as
low as 13.40 pence earlier in the session. (Reporting by Austin
Lobo in Bangalore; Editing by Kavita Chandran)