Tuban Petrochemical Complex start next month

The long-delayed (eight years to be precise!) giant Tuban Petrochemical Complex is scheduled to start its commercial production next month. Next week the complex would start receiving condensat (raw material) from Senipah gas field for heating up process before it commence the commercial production next month.

The complex would produce fuels (diesel, kerosene, and motor gasoline), naptha (raw material for olefin producers), paraxylenes (raw material for synthetic fiber), benzene and toluene (chemicals for various industries).

State-owned oil and gas company PT Pertamina will absorb all the fuels, while naptha and chemicals will be available for open market.

The plant has combined capacity of 3.6 million tones per annum (TPA) of petrochemicals product, comprising 1 million TPA of aromatics (500,000 ton paraxylene, 200,000 ton benzene, and 150,000 ton toluene), 1 million TPA of naphtha, and 1.6 million TPA of kerosene and diesel.

Tuban Petrochemical Complex is owned by PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama (TPPI). TPPI is a subsidiary of PT Tuban Petrochemical Industries (Tuban Petro), a company established by government pursuant to debt restructuring of Tirtamas Group, former controlling shareholder of the project. Ministry of Finance, represented by PT Perusahaan Pengelola Aset (a company established to manage remaining assets of Indonesia Bank Restructuring Agency) owns 70% shares in Tuban Petro, while the remaining owned by PT Silakencana Tirtalestari.

Other shareholders of the Tuban Complex are Pertamina, Itochu Corporation, Tuban Petrochemicals Pte Ltd (a subsidiary of Thailand's largest conglomerate Siam Cement PCL), and Sojitz Corporation (formerly Nissho Iwai Corporation).

The project was started in early 1990s but suspended following the financial crisis in 1998 with huge loans. Government came to rescue the project with new loan facility from Japanese creditors at US$400 million disbursed in 2004.

Under the debt restructuring, government holds Rp3.266 trillion of 10-year bond and Rp4.167 trillion of mandatory convertible bond (equals to 21-25% shares in TPPI).

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