Tuesday, June 16, 2009

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























- Bank Negara Indonesia To Issue $150M Sub-Debt Later This Year
- Indonesia's Bosowa Group A Potential Buyer Of Bank Kesawan
- Vale-BHP venture cuts iron price to Krakatau Steel
- Opus Supremus Sets Aside Us$400 Mln To Buy Indonesian Debts
- Indonesia's BCA Maintains 15-20% Credit Expansion Target
- Bank Indonesia Official: 2009 Bank Loans Could Grow Above 15%
- Indonesian Central Bank Head Defends High Interest Rates
- TABLE-Details of Indonesia's planned SBI, sharia debt auction
- Indonesia's Astra Int'l Posts 9.5% Increase In Car Sales In May
- Indonesia's Alam Sutera Delays Construction Of Shopping Mall
- Hexindo Wins $48 Million of Heavy Equipment Supply Contracts
- Salim Ivomas Starts Rp 50b Shipping Logistics Subsidiary
- Kresna Has Big Plans for Online Trading Expansion
- Indonesia Jan-May Natural Rubber Output Dn 6.5% On Year-ANRPC
- Vietnam, Indonesia Aim Closer Ties On Robusta Coffee Trade
- Indonesia's Pertamina's Net Profit Up 54.8% In 2008
- Indonesian Power Co PT KPM Penalized By PLN
- Hess Starts Producing 125 Tons/Day Of LPG At East Java Plant
- N Sumatra Administration Gives Positive Signal To PLTA Asahan III
- Pertamina Sells 200,000 Bbl Jet Fuel To Shell -Official
- Indonesia Pertamina: Cilacap CDU running at 90 pct
- PGN Obtains $40m in Trade Financing From ANZ Panin
- Asia Crude-Pertamina buys total 2.85 mln bbls for Aug
(Courtesy Joyo News Service)




Bank Negara Indonesia To Issue $150M Sub-Debt Later This Year
JAKARTA, June 16 (Dow Jones)--PT Bank Negara Indonesia (BBNI.JK)
is considering reviving a plan to issue $150 million in
subordinated debt later this year to help strengthen its capital
structure, its president director said Tuesday. The issuance
should help the bank, the nation's fourth largest by assets,
increase lending by up to 15% this year as planned, Gatot
Suwondo told reporters after signing an agreement to provide
IDR2.7 trillion ($264 million) in syndicated loans to PT
Telekomunikasi Indonesia (TLKM.JK).
BNI had last year canceled a planned issuance of subordinated
debt due to the global financial turbulence.
At the end of 2008, BNI's total outstanding credit was IDR111.99
trillion, up 26% from IDR88.65 trillion a year earlier.
---------------------------
Indonesia's Bosowa Group A Potential Buyer Of Bank Kesawan
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - Indonesia's Bosowa Group through
its subsidiary PT Malomo Transportindo has agreed to become a
standby buyer for rights shares to be offered by PT Bank Kesawan
(JSX:BKSW).
The publicly traded bank plans to launch right issue selling 20
per cent of its right shares worth around Rp40 billion (US$4
million) expected this month.
Bank Kesawan President Dinno Indiano said Malomo is a potential
shareholder of the bank if its majority shareholder PT Adhi
Tirta Mustika refuses to buy the shares.
Adhi Tirta will have its share diluted to 51 per cent if Malomo
buys the entire shares offered in the rights issue, the
newspaper Bisnis Indonesia said.
----------------------------
Vale-BHP venture cuts iron price to Krakatau Steel
RIO DE JANEIRO, June 15 (Reuters) - Samarco, a joint venture
between miners BHP Billiton and Vale , said on Monday it cut
iron pellets prices by 48.3 percent from last year's price for
Indonesia's Krakatau Steel.
"With the conclusion of the negotiation, which reduces prices by
48.3 percent from their 2008 levels, the new price will be
$1.2523 per metalic unit ... or approximately $84 per tonne,"
Samarco said in a press release.
The deal refers to direct reduction grade iron pellets, which
are higher quality than blast furnace pellets.
Vale last week agreed to reduce iron ore prices for Japanese and
Korean steelmakers, slashing the price of its blast furance
pellets by 48.3 percent and reducing prices for fines and lumps
grades of ore by slightly less.
The company said it has started price discussions with
steelmakers in China, the world's largest importer of iron ore.
China is expecting a 40-50 percent price cut, but analysts say
it may settle for a reduction of around 33 percent.
Global iron prices are set through a benchmarking process in
which the world's biggest miners -- Vale, BHP and Australia's
Rio Tinto -- negotiate a price for the following year in direct
talks with steelmakers.
The 40-year-old system has been weakened in recent years by the
growth of spot market sales and increasing discussion of swap
and futures markets for the key steel ingredient.
(Reporting by Denise Luna, writing by Brian Ellsworth; Editing
by David Gregorio)
------------------------------
Opus Supremus Sets Aside Us$400 Mln To Buy Indonesian Debts
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - The Opus Supremus Group said it
has set aside US$400 million to take over distressed debts
including bonds from Indonesian companies.
The Liechtenstein based company plans to buy the debts to be
converted into shares, regional chief executive officer for East
Asia Stanislav Velinov said.
Opus has a list of around 35 Indonesian companies mostly listed
on the Indonesian Stock Exchange facing default on payments of
their debts, Velinov said.
He said Opus hoped to conclude a deal with at least four of the
companies having a total debt of US$100 million this year.
He said many companies not only in Indonesia had defaulted on
the payments of their debts as a result of the global financial
crisis.
------------------------------
Indonesia's BCA Maintains 15-20% Credit Expansion Target
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - PT Bank Central Asia (BCA)
(JSX:BBCA) has signed new credit agreements worth Rp16 trillion
(US$16 billion) this year, prompting it to maintain its credit
expansion target of 15-20 per cent.
Jahja Setiaatmadja, the president of the country's largest
private bank, said the credit commitments are being processed ,
therefore, credit expansion in the second half of this year will
go faster.
Large disbursements of new credits in the second half of the
year will make up for the low credit expansion in the first
months of the year, Jahja said.
He said demands for credit in the first months of the year were
lower than debt servicing by borrowers.
He said the condition of the country's economy is expected to
improve in the second half of the year that the banks would not
revise its credit expansion target of 15 per cent-20 per cent.
By March 2009, BCA's outstanding credit shrank to Rp107.27
trillion from a peak of Rp112.78 trillion toward the end of last
year, but was still higher by 27.5 per cent year-on-year.
-------------------------------
Bank Indonesia Official: 2009 Bank Loans Could Grow Above 15%
BALI, Indonesia, June 15 (Dow Jones)--Bank loan growth in
Indonesia this year could beat the central bank's forecast of
15% due to an improved outlook about economic growth this year.
"Indonesia is one of the few countries that are expected to post
positive growth this year," Bank Indonesia's acting governor
Miranda Goeltom said during the weekend on the sidelines of a
seminar.
New bank loans grew 31% last year.
The government expects the economy to grow between 4% and 4.5%
this year, while the International Monetary Fund predicted an
expansion between 3% and 4% for south-east Asia's largest
economy.
The economy grew 4.4% on year in the first quarter. The only
other Asian countries whose economies expanded during the period
were China, India, the Philippines and Vietnam.
----------------------------
Indonesian Central Bank Head Defends High Interest Rates
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - A central bank leader defended the
policy of Indonesian banks in maintaining relatively high credit
interest rates.
Banks had reasons not to cut their credit interest rates,
despite signals given by Bank Indonesia with significant cuts in
its benchmark interest rate, Bank Indonesia senior deputy
governor Miranda S Goeltom said.
The central bank and the government, therefore, should not force
their will and intervene in the banking policy, Miranda said.
"Forcing banks to slash their interest rates could be a wrong
move and may bring about worse effects.
"Banks are still reluctant to follow the lead by the central
banks as they still see the condition not yet normal."
Business leaders had complained about the slow response of banks
to the interest rate cut by the central bank.
The central bank has cut its benchmark interest rate by 2.25
percentage points since December last year to 7 pre cent at
present.
----------------------------
TABLE-Details of Indonesia's planned SBI, sharia debt auction
JAKARTA, June 16 (Reuters) - Indonesia's central bank aims to
raise 25.35 trillion rupiah ($2.48 billion) in an auction of
1-month, 3-month and 6-month debt (SBI), as well as 1-month
sharia SBI, on Wednesday.
The yield for 1-month sharia SBI refers to the weighted average
interest rate of 1-month SBI.
Following are details of the auction:
For SBI
Maturities : 1-month (28 days) 3-month (91 days) 6-month (182
days)
Maturing date : 1-month (July 16) 3-month (Sept 17) 6-month
(Dec 17)
Window time : 1200-1400 (0500-0700 GMT)
Settlement date : June 18
For Sharia SBI
Maturities : 1-month (28 days)
Maturing date : July 15
Window time : 1000-1200 (0300-0500 GMT)
Settlement date : June 17
(Reporting by Sonya Angraini; Editing by Sara Webb)
----------------------------
Indonesia's Astra Int'l Posts 9.5% Increase In Car Sales In May
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - Indonesia's largest car maker PT
Astra International (JSX:ASII) chalked up a 9.5 per cent
increase in car sales to 20,891 units in the country in May from
19,080 units in April.
Astra strengthened its lead in the car market in the country
with a market share rising to 58 per cent in May from 51 per
cent in April, the company said in a statement.
Total car sales in the country reached 35,818 units in May up
from 34,604 units in the previous months .
The increase signaled a revival of the industry toward recovery
to follow the economic trend, the statement was quoted as saying
by the newspaper The Jakarta Post.
-----------------------------
Indonesia's Alam Sutera Delays Construction Of Shopping Mall
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - Plagued by difficulty in securing
commitments from anchor tenants, PT Alam Sutera Realty
(JSX:ASRI) said it would hold off until next year the
development of a Rp500 billion (US$49.5 million) shopping mall
in Tangerang.
Potential anchor tenants have delayed decisions to lease spaces
in the mall due to global economic slowdown, company finance
director Joseph Tjong said.
The company expects to spend about Rp750 billion over five years
to build the community town center which will also include a
university.
The company will use the net proceeds from its 2007 initial
public offering help finance the construction of the mall
project , the newspaper Jakarta Global said.
-------------------------------
Hexindo Wins $48 Million of Heavy Equipment Supply Contracts
By Naila Firdausi
June 15 (Bloomberg) -- PT Hexindo Adiperkasa won new contracts
valued at $48 million in the past month to supply excavators to
mining and forestry companies.
Hexindo last week signed contracts to supply excavators valued
at $18 million to Sinar Mas Group and PT Riau Andalan Pulp &
Paper, and two weeks ago agreed to supply PT Thiess Contractors
Indonesia with equipment worth $30 million, Corporate Secretary
Heri Akhyar said in a phone interview.
-----------------------------
The Jakarta Globe
Monday, June 15, 2009
Salim Ivomas Starts Rp 50b Shipping Logistics Subsidiary
PT Salim Ivomas Pratama, a unit of PT Indofood Agri Resources,
on Friday launched a wholly owned subsidiary, PT Samudera
Sejahtera Pratama, with initial capital of about Rp 50 billion
($4.95 million), said IndoAgri chief executive Mark Julian
Wakeford.
Samudera Sejahtera’s principal activities will include operating
barges, tugboats and handling shipping logistics. Wakeford said
the deal would not impact IndoAgri’s net assets and earnings per
share this fiscal year. None of the company’s directors has any
direct or indirect interest in the transaction, he said. “The
company has not received notification from any of its
controlling shareholders that it has any interest in the deal,”
he said. IndoAgri in late December acquired four subsidiaries of
PT Abadi Cemerlang Sejahtera for approximately Rp 11.7 billion,
also through Salim Ivomas Pratama. The four companies are all
palm-oil plantation companies: PT Cakra Alam Makmur, PT
Hijaupertiwi Indah Plantation, PT Cangkul Bumisubur and its
subsidiary, PT Pelangi Intipertiwi. JG
--------------------------------
The Jakarta Globe Monday, June 15, 2009
Kresna Has Big Plans for Online Trading Expansion
Aditya Wikrama
A midsize local brokerage firm, PT Kresna Graha Securindo, or
Kresna Securities, hopes to widen its client base by attracting
online investors and opening new branches over the next five
years.
“We will launch our online trading system in the third quarter
this year, which will be supported with our an expanded branch
network,” Michael Steven, the president director of Kresna
Securities, said on Friday.
Online trading is the latest trend among local brokerage firms
as it promotes share trading without having to add staff.
A number of second-tier brokerage firms, including PT eTrading
Securities, PT Phillip Securities and PT Indo Premier
Securities, all of which offer online trading, have recently
shot to the top of the list of the bourse’s most active
brokerage firms in terms of value and trading frequency.
Kresna Securities plans to add 100 new branches in some 60
cities around the country over the next five years, or about 20
branches per year.
That will be quite a challenge given that the brokerage firm
currently has only 2,500 customers and six branches, with the
seventh branch due to open soon.
Steven said that he was optimistic that online trading would
rapidly increase the company’s client base, which he projected
would swell to 50,000 by 2014.
“However, online customers need to be supported by on-the-ground
support, meaning branches,” he said. “That why we’ll be opening
many new branches in the next few years.”
To finance the network expansion, Steven said the company would
issue new shares to raise between Rp 150 billion and Rp 300
billion ($30 million), and a new Rp 200 billion bond, all
planned for the third quarter of this year.
“We hope to raise a total of Rp 500 billion this year to finance
our expansion plans,” he said.
Steven said that the company would recruit up to 2,000 people
over the next five years.
---------------------------
Indonesia Jan-May Natural Rubber Output Dn 6.5% On Year-ANRPC
SINGAPORE, June 16 (Dow Jones)--Natural rubber output in
Indonesia, the world's second-largest producer, in the
January-May period fell 6.5%, or by 77,000 metric tons, compared
with the same months last year, the Association of Natural
Rubber Producing Countries said Tuesday.
In 2008, Indonesia produced 2.75 million tons of natural rubber,
and it is expected to fall to 2.58 million metric tons in 2009,
the ANRPC said.
In the January-March period, Indonesia's natural rubber exports
fell by 31%, or 193,000 tons, compared with the same period a
year earlier. The association didn't give export numbers for the
January-May period.
The ANRPC issued a monthly rubber statistics report Monday,
which said Thailand's natural rubber output fell 22% in the
first four months of 2009 compared with a year earlier, while
Malaysia's production fell 28% in the first five.
When the report was released Monday, data specific to Indonesia
wasn't available, the ANRPC said Tuesday.
---------------------------
Vietnam, Indonesia Aim Closer Ties On Robusta Coffee Trade
SINGAPORE, June 15 (Dow Jones)--Vietnam and Indonesia, the top
two coffee producers in Asia, are to establish closer ties in
robusta coffee trading and marketing, industry officials said
Monday.
The two countries, which account for more than half of the
world's robusta coffee trade, aim to share information on
improving bean quality and to establish joint marketing efforts,
said Rachim Kartabrata, executive secretary of the Association
of Indonesian Coffee Exporters.
"More communication between the two countries will be mutually
beneficial," he said.
However, he added that detailed plans haven't been finalized.
Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association Chairman Luong Van Tu
confirmed the joint initiative, saying that plans are being
drafted to produce concrete measures.
A joint meeting will be held next week to discuss the specifics,
Tu said.
The plan to set up a joint committee came after a framework
agreement was signed by the two governments in 2006, said the
officials.
Robusta coffee is mostly used in the production of instant
coffee, or blended with arabica beans for brewing low-cost
coffee.
Coffee production of Vietnam, the world's second-largest
producer after Brazil, is estimated at 16 million 60-kilogram
bags for the 2008-09 crop year ending Sept. 30, according to the
Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association.
Market participants estimate Indonesian output at nearly 500,000
metric tons for the 2009-10 crop year that started April 1.
--
Indonesia's Pertamina's Net Profit Up 54.8% In 2008
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - Indonesian state oil company PT
Pertamina (Persero) in fiscal year 2008 booked a consolidated
net profit of Rp30.2 trillion (US$3 billion), up 54.8 per cent
from Rp19.51 trillion in 2009.
The company`s net profit was announced at general shareholders`
meeting (RUPS) which was attended by the company`s directors,
commissioners, here Monday.
Present at the meeting was also Sahala Lumban Gaol, deputy state
enterprise minister in charge of mining, strategic industries,
energy and telecommunication (PISET).
The RUPS was also told Pertamina`s consolidated revenue in 2008
totaled Rp554.21 trillion, up 44.5 per cent from Rp383.60
trillion in 2007.
"As the shareholders` representative, we appreciate the
performance of Pertamina`s executives, based on the
implementation of good corporate governance (GCG)," Sahala
Lumban Gaol said.
He explained the net profit of the oil company amounting to
Rp30.20 trillion exceeded the target which had been set in the
Company Budget Working Plan (RKAP) 2008 at Rp25.445 trillion.
With the achievement, the health rating of Pertamina which
covered the financial, operational, and administrative aspects
was 81.25 or AA (healthy/sound).
Meanwhile, the GCG rating of Pertamina jumped from 74 per cent
in 2007 to 80 per cent in 2008.
Last year, Pertamina`s investment reached Rp12.99 trillion
compared with Rp6.96 trillion in 2007.
However, Sahala Goal did not give details of the amount of
dividends to be paid by Pertamina to the nation.
"It has not been decided, because the results of the audit has
not been completed. But they have suggested that it should be
the same amount like last year, namely 45 per cent of the net
profit," he said.
He also did not mention the internal dividend of the state oil
company. "Pertamina is a big company, so it has to be adjusted
to the company`s condition," he said.
-----------------------------
Indonesian Power Co PT KPM Penalized By PLN
KARIMUN, Riau Islands, June 16 Asia Pulse - Indonesia's power
plant affairs assistant at the Tanjung Pinang PT PLN office P.
Hasibuan said he had to impose a penalty on PT Karimun Power
Mandiri (KPM) for failing to resume the operation of its
generators on schedule.
"Actually, the power crisis in Karimun should have been
overcome, as we have tried to deal with it on short-term basis,
and established a cooperation contract with PT KPM in 2007, but
since the company failed to operate according to the contract,
Karimun is still annoyed by a power crisis," he said on the
sidelines of a hearing with Commission C of the Karimun
legislative assembly Monday.
P. Hasibuan said that under the schedule of the contract, PT KPM
on November 20, 2007 should have supplied 10 megawatts (MW) to
PLN overseeing Tanjung Balai Balai Karimun (TBK), but even after
the schedule had been extended twice, namely on October 15,
2008, and June 30, 2009, it still failed to meet its obligation.
Nevertheless, he would still think about the procurement of the
3 MW to overcome the crisis, because the situation has become
worse than an emergency.
-----------------------------
Hess Starts Producing 125 Tons/Day Of LPG At East Java Plant
JAKARTA, June 15 (Dow Jones)--Hess Corp. (HES) Monday commenced
production of liquefied petroleum gas at a plant in East Java,
with a daily output of 125 metric tons.
The company will increase LPG output to 500 tons a day in 2010,
said Steve McNally, president and general manager of Hess
Indonesia.
The U.S. company has invested $1 billion in building the LPG
processing plant, which is an extension of the existing natural
gas processing plant in the capital of East Java. The new
facility will also process crude oil.
The LPG will be sold in the domestic market.
The feed gas for the facilities is being supplied from the
offshore Ujung Pangkah block.
The block currently produces 5,500 barrels of crude oil a day,
and this is expected to reach the peak of 25,000 barrels a day
next year.
The block also produces 75 million cubic feet of gas, and this
is expected to increase to 130 million cubic feet next year.
--------------------------
N Sumatra Administration Gives Positive Signal To PLTA Asahan III
JAKARTA, June 16 Asia Pulse - Indonesia's North Sumatra
provincial administration has given a positive signal that it
would issue a location approval for the construction of
hydro-power plant PLTA Asahan III, which had been indecisive for
the last three years.
State power firm PT PLN president director Fahmi Mochtar was
answering a question from a legislator during a hearing with the
energy commission of the House of Representatives in Jakarta
Monday night.
Fahmi has said mealier that the North Sumatra administration
preferred the building of PLTA Asahan III, capacity 2x500 MW, by
independent power producers (IPPs).
But unfortunately with the global financial crisis still going
on, the financial capacity of the IPPs is still uncertain.
Actually, PLN already has secured a loan from the Japan Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC) for the construction of power
plants which will enter the power grid of the northern parts of
Sumatra (Sumbagut).
PLTA Asahan III is located in Toba Samosir regency, North
Sumatra, and its construction had been delayed in the past three
years for unclear reasons.
------------------------------
Pertamina Sells 200,000 Bbl Jet Fuel To Shell -Official
JAKARTA, June 16 (Dow Jones)--PT Pertamina has sold 200,000
barrels of jet fuel to Royal Dutch Shell Plc. (RDSB) for June, a
senior official said Tuesday.
Pertamina's trading and marketing director Achmad Faisal said
that Pertamina sold the fuel to Shell on a spot basis.
The state-owned company is also currently in talks with
Malaysia's Petroliam Nasional Bhd, or Petronas, on the sale of
jet fuel, Faisal said, but he declined to provide further
details.
The government last month gave a green light to Pertamina to
export jet fuel due to an oversupply of the fuel in the domestic
market.
Pertamina planned to sell between 100,000 barrels and 200,000
barrels of the fuel per month.
----------------------------
Indonesia Pertamina: Cilacap CDU running at 90 pct
JAKARTA, June 15 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state oil and gas firm
Pertamina said on Monday its 230,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude
distillation unit (CDU) at Cilacap refinery, which was affected
by a fire recently, is running at 90 percent capacity.
Pertamina shut the CDU on June 3 after an emergency tube burst,
causing a fire. It restarted the unit at a low capacity on June
9. [ID:nJAK477326]
"The 230,000 barrels-per-day CDU at the Cilacap refinery is now
running at 90 percent. The running capacity depends on the need.
So far it's quite good," said Masril Moeis, Pertamina's deputy
director for processing.
Cilacap refinery, which is Indonesia's biggest refinery and is
located in Central Java province, has two CDUs. The other one
has a capacity of 118,000 bpd.
Pertamina's nine refineries have a combined capacity of around 1
million barrels per day (bpd). The firm supplies 70 percent of
domestic oil product consumption, while 30 percent comes from
imports. (Reporting by Muklis Ali; Writing by Tyagita Silka;
Editing by Sara Webb)
--------------------------
PGN Obtains $40m in Trade Financing From ANZ Panin
State natural-gas supplier PT Perusahaan Gas Negara last week
secured $40 million in trade financing from PT ANZ Panin Bank,
Rizal Pahlevi Tabrani, PGN’s finance director, said on Friday.
Joseph Abraham, ANZ Panin’s president, said the financing was
part of the bank’s efforts to support PGN’s business
development. “Cooperation with PGN is a breakthrough for us, as
this is the first time we’ve provided such financing to
state-owned companies,” he said.
PGN said in April that the company and its subsidiaries had
earmarked as much as $350 million for capital expenditure this
year, of which as much as $150 million would be used to finance
projects carried over from last year, including the South
Sumatra-West Java pipeline project. JG
--------------------------------
Asia Crude-Pertamina buys total 2.85 mln bbls for Aug
SINGAPORE, June 15 (Reuters) - Indonesian state oil firm
Pertamina has almost halved its spot purchases in August from
July, buying a meagre 2.85 million barrels of crude for August
arrival via two tenders, a company source said on Monday.
The state refinery had bought a hefty 5.25 million barrels for
July arrival.
Pertamina, one of the largest buyers of sweet crude via spot
tenders in the Asia-Pacific region, also shunned regional grades
for August, buying Azeri and Algerian barrels instead, in a move
likely to pressure the regional sweet crude market.
Pertamina bought 950,000 barrels of Azerbaijan's Azeri Light
crude in its second tender for August arrival awarded on Monday,
the source said.
Pertamina bought the cargo at a premium of $3.15 a barrel to
dated Brent from Japanese trader Itochu, a trader said, higher
than the $2.80 premium it paid for a first cargo for August
loading last week.
In the first August tender, it had bought 950,000 barrels each
of Algerian Saharan Blend and Azeri Light.
The low purchases for August followed an unplanned one-week
outage at the 230,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude distillation
unit (CDU) of Pertamina's Cilacap refinery.
The company restarted the CDU unit last week, a company official
said. [ID:nJAK477326]
Another reason for the sharp decline in volumes could be large
stockpiles after hefty purchases over the past few months ahead
of the country's presidential election in July, traders said.
The company has been issuing two sweet crude tenders each month
over the past five months and bought more than 5.0 million
barrels of crude a month for May, June and July arrival.
Pertamina's spot purchases came on top of the 600,000 barrels a
month of term imports of Sudanese Nile Blend crude from
Malaysia's Petronas for the June-August period. (Reporting by
Judy Hua, editing by Maryelle Demongeot and Clarence Fernandez)
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