ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – Indonesia will soon have its first titanium smelter built by PT Bersahaja Berkat Sahabat Jaya in Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands with an investment of $83.3 million or the equivalent of 1.3 trillion rupiah.
This project is one step in downstreaming mineral raw materials which have great potential to be developed in order to increase the added value of titanium commodities.
The Indonesian Minister of Industry, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, said that investment in building a titanium smelter was the first in Indonesia with construction progress reaching 75%.
“The existence of a titanium smelter with ilmenite as the raw material will certainly increase the added value of mineral ores and create jobs in the downstream industrial sector,” said Agus in his official statement, Thursday, December 7 2023.
Minister Agus is optimistic about the multiplier effect of this mineral downstream project, especially in industrial sectors that use titanium, such as the medical equipment industry, airplanes, spacecraft and military equipment.
For this reason, Agus appreciated the realization of investment in developing the ilmenite processing industry into titanium slag products.
On the other hand, this project is also considered to be able to reduce dependence on imports and increase added value in the industrial supply chain.
Meanwhile, ilmenite is a source of the element titanium (Ti) which is needed to make various high performance alloys. Ilmenite occurs as the main mineral in mafic igneous rocks, concentrated in layers and found as waste from tin mining or zirconium sand mining.
“Most of the ilmenite mined worldwide is used to produce titanium dioxide [Ti02], pigments, white chalk, and polishing abrasives,” he said.
Furthermore, this smelter investment is 100% domestic investment. Apart from building a smelter, there are plans to develop downstream other derivative products.
The President Director of PT Bersahaja Berkat Sahabat Jaya, Arbi Leo, expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Industry for its support for the titanium smelter project.
Meanwhile, the smelter’s production capacity reaches 100 metric tons per day which is targeted to meet local and global needs.
“We hope that this smelter will be a step forward in improving the industrial sector and the country’s independence in producing titanium. Therefore, support for PT Bersahaja can help advance the region and also Indonesia,” he said. (AT Network)
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