JAKARTA (Yosefardi) – State miner PT Antam Tbk (ANTM) has today (May 23) signed loan facility agreement of US$100 million with Indonesian Eximbank, partly to fund the expansion of ferronickel plant project in Pomalaa, Southeast Sulawesi.

Eximbank also provided addition loan facility of US$60 million for Antam. The loan has tenor of 10 years with 2 years grace period.

The Pomalaa’s ferronickel plant expansion project is expected to cost US$500-600 million. The capacity will be boosted to 27,000-30,000 tons nickel on ferronickel (TNi) per year, from current capacity of 18,000-20,000 TNi.

The groundbreaking of the project was conducted on February 7, 2013 and is targeted to enter commissioning phase next year. By end of first quarter of this year, the construction of project reached 40% of total construction.