JakartaPost-Apr 28
A company rooted in Indonesia is slated to invest US$2 billion in a blue ammonia project in the United States as part of what President Prabowo Subianto called a “win-win solution” in the ongoing tariff negotiations.
Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto, who led a top-tier Indonesian delegation to Washington, DC, for bilateral talks last week, revealed in a press conference on Monday that Indorama, a diversified manufacturing company, would make the investment in the US state of Louisiana. He added that the US project had reached the front-end engineering design stage, which is a planning phase one step on from the feasibility study. Airlangga noted that Indorama was already operating on US soil in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), the most common thermoplastic polymer, which is used for packaging as well as for food and beverages containers, among many other products. “Indorama is a multiproduct company. It started in Purwakarta and has expanded to various countries, including the US. In the US they have a PET facility, [where they make] bottles for soft drinks,” said Airlangga after making his first report to the President following his visit to the US. His team kicked off talks expected to take up to 60 days and aimed at averting steep import tariffs that the US has threatened to impose on Indonesian-made products. According to its website, Indorama Corporation was established in Purwakarta, West Java, in 1975 as a cotton yarn spinning business. The company has since expanded to the production of polyester fiber, PET and ammonia, among other goods, with operations in numerous countries, including Turkey, Thailand, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, India, Malaysia, Senegal, Nigeria, Brazil and Georgia. Airlangga did not explain what might happen to Indorama’s investment should the bilateral negotiations fail to satisfy the two parties. Read more at:
