VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

State-owned aluminium company PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum (Inalum) and the United Arab Emirates' largest aluminium company Emirates Global Aluminum (EGA) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on production expansion cooperation.

The strategic cooperation agreement was inked at the Dubai Expo in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), on March 31, 2022.

Inalum President Director Hendi Prio Santoso, in a statement on Monday, stated that the signing was a strategic step for the company to expand aluminum production to 400 thousand tons per year by 2024 as well as to encourage integrated and sustainable downstreaming of the aluminum industry.

"We believe that this collaboration will lead to a renewal, thanks to the application of modern smelting technology owned by EGA at Inalum. We also look forward to other great achievements with EGA in the aluminum industry ecosystem in Indonesia, both the existing and new projects in the future," he remarked.

In line with the MOU, Inalum and EGA will conduct a feasibility study on the use of EGA technology at the Inalum Kuala Tanjung smelter in North Sumatra to increase production to 400 thousand tons per year.

The agreement also mentions exploring EGA's investment to improve the supply chain of the aluminum industry. The MoU is also expected to explore new potentials in the aluminum processing industry sector that has not yet been developed in Indonesia.

EGA is a world-class aluminum smelting and processing company that has developed its own technology in aluminum smelting.

Meanwhile, Inalum is committed to undertaking strategic project development initiatives for the aluminum industry, including the reduction furnace technology improvement project, optimization of the Kuala Tanjung aluminum smelter, the smelter-grade alumina refinery project in Mempawah, and the construction of the Remelt IAA aluminum.

Given the huge potential of the aluminum market share, both domestically and regionally, Inalum continues to strive to realize the development of a national aluminum industry cluster and collaboration with PLN to create energy availability in North Sumatra.

EGA President Director Abdulnasser bin Kalban noted that the agreement further deepens the company's cooperation with Inalum, which is based on the potential use of EGA technology in several development projects in Indonesia.

"Our goal is to expand our position as the technology provider of choice in our industry, developing revenue streams for EGA from technology licensing and possible further opportunities while strengthening the relationship between the two countries," Abdulnasser affirmed.  (Antaranews)