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

- Telkom 9-Mo Revenue To Grow By Less Than 5% Vs IDR44.6T-Exec
- Indonesia's Berlian Laju sees 2010 EBITDA up 20-25 pct
- Sriwijaya Air Plans New Regional Routes In Indonesia
- Indonesian Batik Sales In Cirebon Rise Sharply
- Indonesia's 2009 Sugar Output Likely To Miss Target
- Antam CEO:Restarted 3rd Nickel Plant,Full Ops Likely Early Nov
- Indonesia's Adaro lowers yld on dlr bond -source
- Train 2 Of Indonesia's Tangguh Lng Plant Stops Operation
- Pertamina cuts Pertamax price
- Pertamina: Crude Production To Start At Sk-305 Block In M'sia
- Three Groups Competing For Power Project In East Bali
For the full report email Kerry at: author@sidharta.com.au

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

- Gresik Expects 9-Mo Net Pft To Rise By More Than 20% - CEO
- Indonesia's Semen Gresik Estimated To Post 20% Increase In Profit
- Output Of Indonesia's Semen Padang To Drop 120,000 Tons
- Bumi Serpong Expects 2009 Net Pft To Grow By 10%-15% - Exec
- Indonesian Govt Expects Investment To Begin Rising In Q3
- CIMB Niaga offers life insurance products
- Indonesia's Tire Sales Down
- Indonesia's Charoen Set To Chalk Up 5% Jump In Chicken Sales
- Indonesia Sep Coffee Exports -14.5% On Mo;Strong Rupiah Weighs
- Cacao Price Predicted To Rise Next Year: Indonesian Expert
- Indonesia's Jambi Lifts Exports To Singapore 16.51 Pct In July
- Indonesian Shrimp Breeders Reject Planned Imports
- Seven Indonesia tin smelters resume ops-industry official
- Indonesia says plans to cap coal exports
- Indonesia Mulls Coal Export Limit Of 150M Tons/Yr -Official
- Table-Indonesia crude imports Oct discharge schedule
- Indonesia To Revise Oil, Gas Law In Light Of Industry Changes
- Higher Investment Target Set In Indonesia's Oil And Gas Sector
- Indonesian Govt To Supervise LPG Price Increase
For the full report email Kerry at author@sidharta.com.au

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

- APP to launch first LEI-certified paper
- Indonesia's BCA Finance Disbursed Us$700 Mln In Credit
- Patsystems Wins Indonesia Commodity, Derivatives Exchange Pact
- Indonesia's BTN Set To Earn Us$250 Mln From Ipo
- Anz Panin Loans Indonesian Telco Telkomsel $100 Mln
- BII Finance Secures $120 Mln Loan From Bank Int'l Indonesia
- Table-Details of Indonesia's planned SBI, sharia debt auction
- Table-Details of Indonesia's debt swap on Sept 8
- Table-Indonesia 2010 palm, rubber, coffee, cocoa output f'casts
- Indonesia's Lampung Distributes $23 Mln In Smallholder Redits
- Indonesia Agriculture Ministry To Produce Specialty Coffee
- Jambi To Be Center For Cinnamon Production In Indonesia
- Indonesia buys 3.0 mln bls Nov AsiaPac sweet crude
- PGN Plans To Acquire Three Gas Blocks To Guarantee Supply
- Tiara, Flex May Replace Mitsubishi On Indonesian LNG Project
- Antam To Produce 400,000 Tons Of Bauxite From New Mine
For full report email Kerry at: author@sidharta.com.au

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)
------------------------------------------

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)

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

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








- Mitsubishi To Invest $1.5 Bln In Indonesian Petrochem Industry
- Indonesia May crude output edges up 0.25%, gas down 1.8% from Apr
- Indonesia's Pertamina Posts Growth Amid Shrinking Oil Production
- Pertamina restarts Cilacap refinery CDU-official
- Indonesia's TPPI petrochemical plant restarted-exec
- Indonesia's Pertamina eyes 1.58 mil barrels LSWR exports for June
- Asia-Pacific Crude-Condensate up; watches Indonesia
- Indonesian Govt Not To Raise Basic Electricity Rates
- Heidelberg To Sell 14.1% Of Indocement By Wednesday - Source
- HeidelbergCement may sell Malaysia assets - sources
- Indonesia's Kimia Farma Plans To Build Cancer Medicine Plant
- Indonesian Bourse Suspends Trading In Financorpindo Shares
- Foreign Portfolio Investment Up In Indonesia
- Indonesia's Economy To Be Driven By Growing Consumption
- Large Farm Lands Lost On Encroaching Urbanization In Indonesia
- Leakage Of Indonesian Exports Reaches Us$240 Bln: Prabowo
- Indonesia Confiscates Bali Liquor With Alleged Fake Tax Labels
- Eleven Embassies Actively Promoting Tourism In Indonesia
(Courtesy Joyo News Service)






Mitsubishi To Invest $1.5 Bln In Indonesian Petrochem Industry
JAKARTA, June 9 Asia pulse - Mitsubishi will build a coal-based
petrochemical factory with an investment of US$1.5 billion in
East Kalimantan, chairman of the Indonesian Chemical Industry
Federation (FIKI) Hidayat Nyakman said.
"Up to now, Mitsubishi is the only company which is serious in
making investment in the petrochemical industry sector while
others have only expressed interest," Nyakman said here on
Tuesday.
He made the remarks after attending a discussion on the outlook
of chemical industry after the 2009 elections.
He said that the Japanese company had finished its feasibility
studies on the construction of the factory, but it was still
waiting for the government to provide support facilities to
ensure continuity in the factory`s operation.
"They are still waiting for the government`s support such as
infrastructure and tax incentives," Nyakman said.
The petrochemical factory, according to plan, will be built on a
37-hectare plot of land but Nyakman did not indicate the
location where the factory is going to be built.
Nyakman said the Mitsubishi`s factory would make the same
products as the integrated petrochemical factory of PT Chandra
Asri, but the scale of its production would be smaller than
Asri`s.
PT Chandra Asri produces upstream and intermediate chemical
products.
He said that Mitsubishi was also still waiting for coal supply
certainty for its raw material need. It needed 10 million tons
of coal as raw material to produce petrochemical products.
"Indonesia has big potential for petrochemical investment as it
is rich in raw materials such as oil, gas and coal reserves. But
the government`s support such as infrastructure and tax
incentive is still very small compared with that of other
counties such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore," he said.
Nyakman said the cost of petrochemical factory construction in
Indonesia was high because companies willing to invest in this
sector had to develop infrastructure facilities such as roads,
ports and electricity generators themselves.
----------------------------
Platts Commodity News
June 9, 2009
Indonesia May crude output edges up 0.25%, gas down 1.8% from Apr
Jakarta -- Indonesia's crude oil output in May 2009 edged up
0.25% to 824,783 barrels/day compared with 822,700 b/d in April,
as some field operators such as ConocoPhillips and Chevron
boosted production, an official at upstream regulator BPMigas
said Tuesday.
Indonesia pumped 116,800 b/d of condensate in May, a 1.3%
increase over April's 115,300 b/d.
Crude and condensate output in May together increased 0.38% to
941,583 b/d compared with 938,000 b/d in April.
Indonesia has seen its crude output fall because of natural
decline at aging fields. However, the country met its 2008
target for oil and condensate output of 977,000 b/d, pumping
988,060 b/d.
The country is no longer an OPEC member, as it has moved from
being a net oil exporter, to a net oil importer in recent years.
It targets 960,000 b/d of oil and condensate production in 2009.
However, Indonesia had only produced 951,833 b/d of oil and
condensate on average over January-May this year.
GAS OUTPUT FALLS 1.8% FROM APRIL
The country produced 7.653 Bcf/day of gas in May or 1.8% less
than April's 7.796 Bcf/d. Indonesia produced 7.773 Bcf/d of gas
during January-May 2009, which was higher than the production
target of 7.56 Bcf/d for this year. Indonesia had initially
targeted to produce 7.326 Bcf/d of gas in 2009, Finance Minister
Sri Mulyani had said earlier. But the government revised up the
target to 7.56 Bcf/d. Total E&P Indonesia is expected to
contribute 2.66 Bcf/d, Pertamina 1.1 Bcf/d and the new Tangguh
project 500,000 Mcf/d to gas output this year, the oil and gas
director general at energy and mines ministry, Evita Legowo, has
said.
In 2008, the government had set a gas production target of 7.757
Bcf/d, but failed to reach it as it pumped only 7.478 Bcf/d.
Indonesia has 170.1 Tcf of proven, probable and possible gas
reserves, according to BPMigas.
Indonesia's oil, condensate and gas production in 2009
January: 839,911 b/d of oil
123,268 b/ of condensate
7.643 Bcf/d of gas
February: 841,280 b/d of oil
125,100 b/d of condensate
7.982 Bcf/d of gas
March: 831,965 b/d of oil
123,060 b/d of condensate
7.789 Bcf/day of gas
April: 822,700 b/d of oil
115,300 b/d of condensate
7.796 Bcf/d of gas May:
824,783 b/d of oil
116,800 b/d of condensate
7.653 Bcf/d of gas
Anita Nugraha, newsd...@platts.com
----------------------------
Indonesia's Pertamina Posts Growth Amid Shrinking Oil Production
JAKARTA, June 9 Asia Pulse - Indonesian state oil and gas
company PT Pertamina recorded a strong growth in crude oil
production to 171,900 barrels per day at present from only
150,000 bpd last year.
Subsidiary Pertamina E&P contributed 125,500 bpd, Pertamina Hulu
Energi 34,700 bpd and Cepu oil field 6,700 bpd and acquired oil
fields 500 bpd.
The production level should be maintained throughout this year,
Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said
Pertamina has recorded a steady increase in oil output from only
95,000 bpd in the 1990 when the country's total production
shrank from a peak of more than 1.7 million bpd early 1990s to
less than 1 million at present.
The state company has optimized production including from old
wells using the enhanced oil recovery technology, the newspaper
Bisnis Indonesia said.
Pertamina has around 160 units of oil fields with 2,782 active
wells of which 21% are producing oil.
It is also involved in ventures in units of working areas
including 31 units under Technical Assistance Contract and 10
units under joint operation and a number of units under joint
Operating Body.
------------------------------
Pertamina restarts Cilacap refinery CDU-official
JAKARTA, June 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia's state oil and gas firm
Pertamina has restarted its 230,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) crude
distillation unit (CDU) at its Cilacap refinery after an
unplanned outage last week, a company official said on Tuesday.
Pertamina shut the CDU on Wednesday after an emergency tube
burst, causing a fire.
"We have restarted the CDU and at a low capacity. The capacity
will be increased gradually," said the official, who declined to
be identified.
Pertamina spokesman Basuki Trikora Putra said previously the CDU
would be restarted at 60 percent capacity and would gradually be
increased to 100 percent within a few days.
Cilacap refinery, Indonesia's biggest and located in Central
Java province, has two CDUs. The other one has a capacity of
118,000 bpd.
Last week, Pertamina's marketing director Achmad Faisal said the
company planned to import about 4-5 million barrels of gasoline
in July and about 2.4 million barrels of diesel oil.
Indonesia is Asia's biggest importer of oil products.
Pertamina's nine refineries have a combined capacity of around 1
million barrels per day (bpd). But it only supplies 70 percent
of domestic oil product consumption and 30 percent comes from
imports.
(Reporting by Muklis Ali; Editing by Ed Davies)
--------------------------
Platts Commodity News June 9, 2009
Indonesia's TPPI petrochemical plant restarted-exec
JAKARTA, June 9 (Reuters) - Indonesia's Trans Pacific
Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI) petrochemical plant has been
restarted and is running at a capacity of 35,000 barrels per day
of condensate, an executive from its main shareholder said on
Tuesday.
Amir Sambodo, president director of PT Tuban Petrochemical
Industries, which has a 59.5 percent stake in TPPI, said the
plant had initially been expected to resume operations last
month after a 15-month shutdown.
"The plant has been restarted and we began with 35,000 barrels
per day capacity. We will gradually increase the capacity in
future," Sambodo told Reuters.
"We are seeking to import condensate from abroad to increase the
capacity. Imports will be around 50,000 barrels per day to
60,000 barrels per day," he added.
The TPPI petrochemical and refining complex in Tuban, East Java
province, had been closed since February last year due to
breaches in a breakwater wall protecting the plant from the sea.
The complex, which has a condensate splitter with a capacity of
100,000 bpd, also failed to reopen earlier after a plunge in the
price of petrochemicals compounded its problems.
TPPI signed a deal with Indonesian state oil and gas firm
Pertamina in December to supply it with gasoline, enabling TPPI
to produce lower volumes of aromatics and more auto fuel to help
raise margins.
TPPI has the capacity to produce 50,000 bpd of gasoline, but it
is unclear whether all will be committed to Pertamina.
"We will focus on midlle distillate output at the moment. If we
process 100,000 barrels per day of condensate then we can
produce 50,000 barrels per day of gasoline," Sambodo said, who
declined to say when TPPI would start supplying gasoline to
Pertamina.
Indonesia is Asia's top gasoline importer and the deal with TPPI
will in turn help Pertamina limit gasoline imports.
Pertamina has a 15 percent stake in TPPI, while Siam Cement of
Thailand and Japanese firms Sojitz Corp and Itochu Corp hold the
remaining stakes. (Reporting by Muklis Ali; Editing by Ed Davies)
---------------------------
Platts Commodity News June 9, 2009
Indonesia's Pertamina eyes 1.58 mil barrels LSWR exports for June
Singapore -- Indonesia's state-owned refiner Pertamina has
allocated up to 1.58 million barrels of low sulfur waxy residue
for export in June, up 320,000 barrels from May, industry
sources said Thursday.
The cargoes include two of 200,000 barrels each of mixed-cracked
LSWR and four of V-500 LSWR from its Balikpapan refinery.
The mixed-cracked LSWR will go to Japanese term-lifter Mitsui,
while the four V-500 LSWR cargoes will go to term lifters
Japan's Itochu and Toyota Tsusho Corporation and Malaysia's
Petronas, sources said. Toyota will lift two parcels of V-500
LSWR.
The company will also export 200,000 barrels of straight run
LSWR from Cilacap, 100,000 barrels of straight run LSWR from
Sungai Pakning and 80,000 barrels from Kasim refinery. These
cargoes are likely to go to Pertamina's trade affiliates Petral
or PPT, sources said.
Jonathan Nonis, jonathan_no...@platts.com
---------------------------
Asia-Pacific Crude-Condensate up; watches Indonesia
SINGAPORE, June 9 (Reuters) - Asia-Pacific crude market was
steady as traders awaited the result of Indonesia's monthly
tender, due on Wednesday, to give an indication of the direction
of front-month trading.
But condensate market rose after Indonesia's TPPI refining and
petrochemical complex restarted after 15-month shutdown, seeking
to import condensate from abroad.
Malaysia has closed its second tender selling July Dar Blend
crude, one of the last July cargoes to be moved.
*OSP
- Asian oil exporter Brunei has raised the retroactive official
selling price (OSP) of its crude for May by $7.50 a barrel from
April, with flagship Seria Light set at $53.76. [ID:nSP182315]
*NEW TENDERS
- Malaysia's state oil company Petronas has closed on Tuesday a
tender to sell 1.0 million barrels of Sudanese Dar Blend crude
for July loading, a trade source said. [ID:nSP355416]
- State-run Hindustan Petroleum Corp has issued its regular
monthly tender to import sweet crude oil for August loading,
traders said. [ID:nT112055]
*MARKET NEWS
- Indonesia's Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI)
petrochemical plant has been restarted and is running at a
capacity of 35,000 barrels per day of condensate, an executive
from its main shareholder said. [ID:nJAK219459]
- Japanese refiner Cosmo Oil Co said on Tuesday it plans to
refine 1.64 million kilolitres (344,000 barrels per day) of
crude oil this month, down 20.7 percent from a year earlier,
reflecting a slide in domestic oil demand. [ID:nT107101]
- Chevron Corp said on Tuesday it had secured customers in Japan
and South Korea for about 70 percent of liquefied natural gas
(LNG) supply from its multi-billion dollar Gorgon project in
Australia. [ID:nSP138043]
*CRACK SPREADS
- The fuel oil spread fell 70 cents a barrel to minus $7.45 to
Dubai swaps .
- The gas oil crack fell 15 cents to $7.15 a barrel to Dubai
swaps. .
*OUTRIGHT PRICES
- July ICE Brent rose by $1.65 a barrel to $68.86 at
0830 GMT versus the close of Asian trade on Monday, on a falling
U.S. dollar. (Reporting by Judy Hua; Editing by Ben Tan)
-------------------------------
Indonesian Govt Not To Raise Basic Electricity Rates
SEMARANG, S Java, June 9 Asia pulse - Indonesia's Energy and
Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said that the
government would not raise the electricity basic tariffs (TDL)
on the people`s and nation`s interest.
"At present, the government is providing power and fuel oil
subsidies for the people amounting to Rp175 trillion ($US17.5
billion), which is lower than our receipts in this sector last
year which stood at Rp350 trillion," he said during a working
visit here on Monday.
Therefore, he said, there were still a relatively large
remainder that could be used as a subsidy. "But the amount of
subsidy would depend on the developments of crude price in the
world market. Because now is still in June, we could not yet
know the amount of revenues and of subsidies," the minister said.
He said that based on the experience in the past years, the
subsidies were always bigger than revenues, so that this year it
was believed that in the energy sector there would still be
profit that could contribute to the state and nation.
"We hope that the electricity rate would not be raised up to
next October because I will still serve up to October 2009.
After October 2009, I have no idea because it would be under the
new government," the minister said.
In the meantime, General Manager of state-owned power utility
company PLN for Central Java and Yogyakarta distribution, Ferry
Krisna said the government`s decision not to raise the
electricity tariffs would not disturb power supplies to the
regions. This is because every thing had been prepared before
the beginning of the budget year.
"We are facing no problem in the present condition, where the
tariff rates are not raised by the government, because we have
made calculations and preparations in the first place," he said.
------------------------------------------
---
Heidelberg To Sell 14.1% Of Indocement By Wednesday - Source
JAKARTA (Dow Jones)--German cement maker HeidelbergCement AG
(HEI.XE) is poised to sell 14.1% of Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa
(INTP.JK) by Wednesday, a person involved with the deal told Dow
Jonews Newswires.
The stake is equal to 520.5 million shares in the company.
Heidelberg is conducting book-building for the sale late Tuesday
and hopes to complete the sale by Wednesday, the source said.
-------------------------
HeidelbergCement may sell Malaysia assets - sources
* German cement-maker may sell Malaysian assets at $250 mln
* Firm eyes assets sales in Indonesia, Australia
By Saeed Azhar and Michael Flaherty
SINGAPORE/HONG KONG, June 9 (Reuters) - HeidelbergCement is
looking to sell assets in Malaysia for at least $250 million,
two sources told Reuters, as the German cement maker tries to
reduce debt.
HeidelbergCement has been active in Malaysia since the
acquisition of British rival Hanson in August 2007, producing
ready-mixed concrete, aggregates and asphalt, according to its
website.
Standard Chartered is advising on the sale of these assets, said
the sources, who declined to be identified because the deal is
not public.
Reuters reported last week that lenders to troubled
HeidelbergCement have been given an extra week to approve the
company's loan restructuring plans [ID:nL1308021].
The Malaysian assets, whose sale may take a few months to
complete, may draw interest from private equity firms, one of
the sources with direct knowledge of the deal told Reuters.
HeidelbergCement and Standard Chartered declined to comment.
The German firm is laden with debt resulting from the takeover
of Hanson and is selling assets around the world such as a stake
in an Indonesian cement-maker and Australia businesses.
The firm, controlled by the son of late billionaire Adolf
Merckle, is mulling an application for German state aid, a
source told Reuters last month [ID:nLS939058].
Merckle, one of Germany's richest men and best-known
industrialists, killed himself in January after losing heavily
on the stock market.
The entrepreneur, ranked in 2007 by Forbes as the world's
44th-wealthiest man with a fortune of $12 billion, left behind
an empire with three pillars -- HeidelbergCement, generics
drugmaker Ratiopharm and drug wholesaler Phoenix.
HeidelbergCement shares have fallen more than 70 percent over
the past year. (additional reporting by Hendrick Sackmann in
Stuttgart; Editing by Dhara Ranasinghe)
------------------------




Indonesia's Kimia Farma Plans To Build Cancer Medicine Plant
JAKARTA, June 9 Asia Pulse - Indonesian state pharmaceutical
company PT Kimia Farma (JSX:KAEF) plans to build a cancer
medicine plant in the country in cooperation with India's
Nardprod.
Production Director of Kimia Farma Jisman Siagian said the two
companies are holding intensive discussions on the project.
Jisman said Kimia Farma agrees to import cancer medicines
produced by the Indian company until they produce them in the
country.
Construction of the factory will likely begin next year, he said
without giving more details.
-------------------------
Indonesian Bourse Suspends Trading In Financorpindo Shares
Jakarta, June 9 Asia pulse - The Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI)
has suspended trading in PT Financorpindo Nusa shares since the
first trading session on Tuesday (June 9).
The suspension was conducted following a finding of incorrect
bookkeeping entry and inaccurate report on the Adjusted Net
Working Capital (MKBD).
BEI President Director Erry Firmansyah in an information opening
here on Tuesday said the bourse would maintain the suspension
until Financorpindo correct its MKBD report accurately.
PT Financorpindo Nusa office is located at Wisma Nusantara fl.
26th, MH Thamrin Boulevard kav. 59, central Jakarta. The
company`s president commissioner, Amelia Hariyono, owns 70 per
cent or the majority of the securities company`s shares.
-------------------------
Foreign Portfolio Investment Up In Indonesia
JAKARTA, June 9 Asia Pulse - The value of Bank Indonesia
promissory notes (SBI) held by foreign investors rose to Rp23.4
trillion (US$2.34 billion) in May, up from Rp23.1 trillion a
month earlier.
Deputy Governor of Bank Indonesia Hartadi A Sarwono said foreign
investment has also increases in stock market marked with the
rise in the composite index of the Indonesian Stock Exchange.
Meanwhile, foreign investment in state bonds rose to Rp86.9
trillion in May from Rp86.2 trillion in April. earlier. to
The increases contributed to strengthening the rupiah, now
hovering at the level of 10,000 to the US dollar from around
11,000 a few weeks before.
Currently foreign capital is used mainly for portfolio
investment but some of the funds may be used later for direct
investment, Hartadi was quoted as saying by the newspaper
Investor Daily.
--------------------------
Indonesia's Economy To Be Driven By Growing Consumption
JAKARTA, June 9 Asia Pulse - Growing consumption will remain the
driving motor for Indonesia's economy in the second half of the
year, a cabinet minister said.
The investment sector is also expected to recover in the second
half of the year contributing to the country's economic revival,
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said.
Banks are also expected to start funneling more funds to the
real sector after the recent cuts in central bank's benchmark
interest rates, Sri Mulyani said.
In addition, the government is spending big funds in the form of
stimulus in the second and third quarter of this year, she added.
Indonesia has managed to chalk up significant growth in the
first quarter of this year when many other countries suffered a
contraction.
The better than expected performance in the first three months
of this year has apparently prompted the International Monetary
Fund to revise up its forecast for the country's economic growth
this year to 3 per cent-4 per cent this year from 2.5 per cent
earlier.
-------------------------
Large Farm Lands Lost On Encroaching Urbanization In Indonesia
JAKARTA, June 9 Asia Pulse - Encroaching urbanization is causing
the loss of around 125,000 hectares of Indonesia's productive
farm lands every year.
Shrinking farm lands not only threatens the country's food
resilience but also increases the number of people living below
the poverty line especially among Indonesia's farmers, observers
said.
Based on data at the Central Bureau of Statistics the ratio of
meagre farmers to farm households grew from 51.9 per cent in
1993 to 53.9 per cent in 2003 and to 55.1 per cent in 2008, the
newspaper Investor Daily said.
Indonesian farmer association (HKTI) advisor Siswono Yudhohusodo
said new rice-fields built by the government are not significant
to make up for the loss caused by urbanization.
The expansion of farm lands is not proportional with the growing
number of farm families, the newspaper Investor Daily quoted
Winarno Tohir, another leader of farmers' association.
---------------------------
Leakage Of Indonesian Exports Reaches Us$240 Bln: Prabowo
BEKASI, W Java, June 9 Asia Pulse - The leakage of the proceeds
of the Indonesia`s natural wealth exports over the past 12 years
reached Rp2,400 trillion (US$240 billion), vice presidential
candidate of the Greater Indonesian Movement (Gerindra), Prabowo
Subianto, said.
"Our country is more liberal than the West. Based on data
available with the central bureau of statistics (BPS),
Indonesia`s export proceeds from 1997 to 2008, reach about Rp250
trillion per annum. So, the total for a 12 year-period is
Rp3,000 trillion. But data recorded by Bank Indonesia (BI/the
central bank) showed the proceeds are only Rp600 trillion. So,
where did the other Rp2,400 trillion go?" he said here over the
weekend.
He said that the case was an indication that the country`s
economic system had failed to guard natural wealth so that
export leakage reached Rp200 trillion per annum.
"If the Rp2,400 funds stayed in the government`s reserves it
would have a tax collection of 30 per cent worth Rp800 trillion
and this would be able to meet the people`s need for
development," he added.
He said that the government did not learn a lesson from the
economic crisis in 1998 when Indonesia lost a fund of Rp800
trillion in the case of BI`s liquidity support credit assistance
(BLBI), but repeated the same mistake.
"The government should have carried out recovery over the BLBI
case but it did the same mistake instead," he said.
Prabowo said that up to now no one was able to explain where the
hundreds of trillions of funds went over the past 12 years.
"Some of the economic professors do not directly face the real
business world (where there are smuggling, mark ups,
embezzlement, illegal levies) but grappled with figures in
campuses," he said.
Prabowo said the government should not have depended on foreign
funds to cover the people`s need if the funds obtained from
natural wealth exports could be utilized maximally.
----------------------------
Indonesia Confiscates Bali Liquor With Alleged Fake Tax Labels
JAKARTA, June 9 Asia Pulse - Tourists in Bali may find it harder
to find a stiff drink after authorities confiscated thousands of
bottles of liquor from some of the holiday island's top hotels,
restaurants and bars.
Indonesian customs officials have seized the booze, from
high-end establishments in popular tourist areas like Kuta and
Nusa Dua, because the bottles allegedly have counterfeit tax
labels.
The tourism industry fears the seizures will lead to an alcohol
shortage which may deter tourists from visiting Bali in what is
traditionally the high season.
"We've asked for this confiscation process to be temporarily
suspended because we are running out of stocks," said Perry
Markus, head of the Bali branch of the Indonesian Hotel and
Restaurant Association.
Ida Bagus Subhiksu, head of the Bali Tourism Board, believes the
raids could damage Bali's international reputation.
"We asked the customs office to stop the process and if they
have to do something, please continue it later on, after the
high season," Subhiksu said.
The raids come after at least 26 people, including four foreign
tourists, were killed in Bali and nearby Lombok by drinking
local rice wine - known as arak - tainted with methanol.
Arak has become increasingly popular in Bali since a government
crackdown on imported alcohol forced up the price of spirits and
wine.
----------------------------
Eleven Embassies Actively Promoting Tourism In Indonesia
PADANG, W Sumatra, June 9 Asia Pulse - Eleven Indonesian
embassies are actively promoting Indonesia`s tourism through
their diplomats and Indonesian citizens domiciled in foreign
countries, a senior tourism official said.
Diplomats in the eleven embassies were playing extraordinary
roles by launching the Indonesian tourism promotions, Nia
Nurchaya, director for convention, incentive and promotion
affairs at the Tourism and Culture Ministry, said here on
Saturday.
She said the eleven Indonesian embassies were those in
Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Japan, South Korea, China,
India, Britain, The Netherlands, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
Among the efforts they made included approaches to tourism
operators in the countries concerned and distribution of
brochures on Indonesian tourism to the tourism agents.
"The Indonesian embassies provided funds for the organization of
the tourism fun trips. They also disclosed agencies and media
organizations which could provide positive impact on Indonesian
tourism," she said.
The number of foreign tourists who visited Indonesia during the
first quarter of this year reached 1,893,155, she said here over
the weekend.
"Most of the foreign tourists who arrived in the country in the
first quarter of this year came from Australia, Malaysia and
China," Nia Nurchaya, director for tourism convention, incentive
and promotion affairs of the directorate general for tourism and
culture, said.
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 encouraging as it happens at a time when the country
is facing the impact of global economic crisis.
Nurchaya said that the international tourist flows in other
countries in the first quarter of 2009 were declining.
------------------------------------------