Chandra Asri Invests US $ 350 Million to Build New Polyethylene Plant

INDUSTRY.co.id - Jakarta - PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (TPIA) started to build a new polyethylene (PE) plant in Cilegon petrochemical complex, Banten Province. It was marked by the groundeaking for the construction of the plant.

"The polyethylene plant with a production capacity of 400 kilo tons per year (KTA) will be built with an investment of US $ 350 million. Construction of the plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2019 so that it can start operating in early 2020, said Erwin Ciputra, Managing Director of TPIA, in Jakarta on Monday (05/02/18).

Erwin said the new plant will produce High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Linerar Low Density Polyethelyne (LLDPE), and Metallocene LLDPE.

"LLDPE and HDPE are usually used as raw materials to produce blown films, rice bags, toys, bottle caps, shopping bags, household appliances, ropes, tarpaulins, pipes, container boxes and so on," Erwin said.

Erwin said, the construction of the factory aims to anticipate the high demand of PE in the domestic market as the rapid development of plastic and packaging industry in Indonesia.

"PE demand in Indonesia is currently predicted to reach 1.4 million TPA and will continue to increase in line with the growth of gross domestic product (GDP), said Erwin.

Erwin explained, the new PE factory will produce more PE products to meet domestic needs as a substitution and reduce foreign exchange outflow.

Currently, the company operates a PE factory with a production capacity of 336 KTA. Therefore, the construction of a new PE plant with a capacity of 400 KTA is expected to increase the production capacity of the company's PE to 736 KTA.