VP inaugurates cement plant and LPG terminal in Banyuwangi

Banyuwangi, East Java-wapresri.go.id Vice President Jusuf Kalla inaugurated Bosowa Cement Factory in Banyuwangi (Semen Bosowa Banyuwangi) and Bosowa Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) terminal in Banyuwangi, East Java Province on Thursday (Dec. 15).

The Vice President said that the cement factory and LPG terminal are aimed to accelerate industrialization in the southern part of East Java.

“Bosowa’s investment in Banyuwangi is to support our national development, especially in the southern part of ​​East Java so that consumers will be closer to the industry and thus it can lower the price,” said the Vice President.

He further said, the existence of a cement plant can trigger the growth of other industries, as well as raising public incomes.

The Vice President on the occasion also appreciated Bosowa that has managed to build a cement plant which is not located in areas of raw material suppliers.

“This shows the good networking with other factories mainly the parent factories in order to create efficiency and availability of cement quickly,” he argued.

Regarding the construction of the LPG terminal, Vice President stated that since the conversion of kerosene to LPG in 2006-2007, the demand for LPG continues to increase.

“Therefore, the LPG filling stations should be closer to the consumers to reduce transportation costs. And that is the purpose of this terminal (that is) to shorten the distance with consumers,” he said.

Earlier, in his report Bosowa Group Chairman Erwin Aksa explained, Semen Bosowa Banyuwangi plant was completed in June 2015 with an investment of 1.2 trillion rupiah with a capacity of 1.8 million tons of cement per year.

“Some of the raw materials are from outside the region and some are from Banyuwangi, Jember and Probolinggo; while the final product is distributed in East Java and Bali,” he said.

Meanwhile, Erwin added, LPG terminal in Banyuwangi is the second LPG terminal built Bosowa after a terminal in Makassar to supply LPG for people in East Java and Bali with a project value of around 787 billion rupiah.

“The terminal is able to accommodate 10,000 metric tons of LPG with jetty facilities of 6,500 dwt. Both the factory and terminal altogether employ approximately 300 people most of whom are the people of Banyuwangi,” he said.

In the meantime, the East Java governor Sukarwo in his speech said, Bosowa’s investment have greatly triggered the development in East Java.

“Investment in East Java currently reaches118 trillion rupiah, so that the economic growth is forecast 5.6 in 2016 and 5.7 up to 5.8 in 2017,” said Sukarwo.

However, he continued, the province is experiencing problems in terms of distribution and thus it will construct double-track railway line between Banyuwangi and Surabaya to handle them.

Besides, Soekarwo also hoped that state-owned port operator PT Pelindo complete the Tanjung Wangi port project in order to promote connectivity between Jember, Bondowoso, Situbondo, and Banyuwangi so that the transport of goods does not have to go through Tanjung Perak port in Surabaya, thus saving the cost of distribution.

Also attending the ceremony were the Minister of Industry Airlangga Hartanto, Minister of Communication and Informatics Rudiantara, Advisory Council of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce (Kadin) MS Hidayat, Director of BNI Ahmad Baiquni, and Deputy CEO of  state-owned oil and natural gas corporation Pertamina Ahmad Bambang.

http://www.wapresri.go.id/meresmikan-pabrik-semen-dan-terminal-lpg-di-banyuwangi/